Still Hanging On
by besonicillbetails
Summary: This is the sequel to Hold Fast After moving to San Diego, the guys encounter a Dilemma: Kellin has gone missing.
1. Kellin?

I can't believe how much time has gone by since moving to San Diego. It really felt like we had just moved here only days ago. In about six months, we had written the remainder of our record and gained a sizable fan base here. Fearless really wanted us to have written the record immediately, but we thought otherwise. We wanted to play shows and spread our music a little before jumping into the release. Luckily, Jason had the same idea.

He was really supportive of our decision to play around the area for a little while. We were actually just getting ready to play at a local venue in the middle of the city. There were already a considerable amount of people waiting for the show to start. We were playing with a few other local bands and we were really excited.

"Vic, where on earth is your freaking petal bored?" Tony called in a frustrated manner from the stage.

"Should be on Jaime's amp!" I called back. I was in the middle of trying to untangle the rest of the cords for my equipment.

"Vic, have you seen my shorts?" Mike came walking back stage in his boxers.

"Really Mike?" I sighed. "They're in the dressing room on the back of your chair."

"Thanks bro." He smiled before jogging off, getting stared from several of the women workers, and one or two from a few of the men. I rolled my eyes as I went to place my guitar on the stage. As I was walking to grab my pedal bored, my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket, smiling when I saw the name.

"Hey babe."

"Hey Vic. I should be heading over there in a few minutes. I just need to get a few things ready before I leave." Kellin's soft voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Alright I'll see you when you get here." I smiled even though I knew he couldn't see me.

"Okay. Love you Vic."

"Love you too Kellin." I hung up and slid my phone into my pocket. Kellin and I had grown a lot closer since moving. I don't think that there was a day that we spent away from each other either. Things were pretty much a perfect life, well aside from the teasing that we got from the guys and our crew.

"Vic, call time." Jason called to me. I hadn't realized that I had been standing in the same place for a while. I checked my phone again, seeing that I had been standing there for about ten minutes. I had another message on my phone from Kellin.

*Good luck. I love you.*

I was unsure as to why he had said good luck if he was going to be here any minute. I shrugged a little and went to pick up my other guitar. The rest of the guys joined me at the edge of stage and we proceeded to do our chant before running out onto the stage to the screaming fans. Kellin still wasn't there by the time we had finished set up and were going into the intro of the first song. I was a little worried, but I figured he would be there by the time we were off stage.

We were playing the majority of the new material, leaving a few surprised for the album. The set lasted about a half hour before we were finished. The crowd was really energetic and was taking to the new material better than we could have hoped. By the time we were finished, they were chanting for an encore. I looked to the others and they nodded. We finished up the set with Chemical Kids and Mechanical Brides. I had been hoping that Kellin was here to hear it, seeing as I often dedicated it to him.

"Thanks for coming out tonight. We're Pierce The Veil and we'll be at our table in a few minutes so come say hello." We waved as we left the stage. I walked over to Jason. "Have you seen Kellin?"

"No, isn't he usually at the edge of the stage with you guys?"

"Yeah, but I haven't seen him all night." I was a little concerned. Maybe something had delayed him.

I joined with my brother and the others at the table, eager to meet our fans. There were a lot of kids that were around our age that came out and it was nice to be able to relate to them. They shared their stories with us and we shared some of ours. Most of them wanted to just say hello and take pictures, which was fine with us as well.

Justin, Jack, Jesse and Gabe all joined us after a little while.

"You guys rocked as usual." Jesse fist bumped my brother and hugged the other two.

"Hey Jesse, have you seen Kellin?" I asked.

"No, we thought he was with you." Justin walked up behind Jesse.

"We haven't seen him all night." Tony placed his hand on my shoulder. "Vic maybe you should head home early and see if he's there."

"Yeah, alright." I smiled my thanks to him. "I'll see you guys when you get home."

I ran from the table and walked to my car outside. As I got in, I checked my phone again, but there was nothing there. This was starting to scare me a little. As much as I didn't want to admit, that I really didn't pay attention to my speed as I made my way across the city and to our house.

When I pulled up, all of the lights were out. My anxiety rose at the sight. This felt like every scary part of any horror movie that I've ever seen. I quickly made my way over to the front door and took a deep breath before opening it. I flipped on the light switch and dropped my keys. Something felt off.

"Kellin!" I yelled out into the house. I ran up the stairs, but he wasn't in our room. "Kellin!" I called more desperately. Something was definitely wrong. There were clothes all over the floor, and I'm fairly certain we had just cleaned yesterday. I searched around the rest of the house, finding a few messy areas here and there. When I got into the kitchen, I noticed that there was rose on the table with a folded piece of paper underneath it.

A lump formed in my throat as I reached out for it. I unfolded the paper and read it, slumping into the chair next to me and letting it fall from my hand. There were only two words written: _I'm sorry… _

**A/N: I love you guys…?**


	2. The Morning After

I must have been sitting at the table for hours before I moved again. I think I would have stayed there if it weren't for the fact that Mike and Tony had come home. They walked into the kitchen and stopped when they realized I was there.

"Vic? Is everything okay?" Mike knelt down next to me. I didn't respond, I didn't know how to.

"Did you find Kellin?" Tony questioned as he set his keys down on the counter. My eyes shifted slightly towards the piece of paper that was now lying in the middle of the kitchen floor. Mike leaned over to pick it up, then turned back to me.

"Vic…" He wrapped his arms around me and that's when I noticed that I was crying. Emotions overwhelmed me as I sobbed into my brother's shoulder. I don't remember anything after that.

The next thing I was aware of, I was waking up on the couch in the living room. I lifted my head, realizing that I had fallen asleep on Tony's lap. My brother was curled up in the chair next to us and Jaime had fallen asleep on the floor. I couldn't help the small smile that crossed my lips.

These guys were the greatest. I must have cried myself to sleep considering how swollen my eyes felt. I could see faint tear stains on Tony's shirt from where I had been laying. I felt a little guilty for causing such a scene, but I was thankful that they were here for me.

As quietly and carefully as I could muster, I removed myself from the couch and walked into the bathroom downstairs. I looked terrible. My eyes were red and swollen and I'm pretty sure I had dried snot on nose. I turned the cold water on and washed my face. The cold water made me feel a little bit better, but I could still feel that sadness seeping into my heart.

I walked into the kitchen and started up the coffee pot. For a bunch of teenagers, we drank an awfully large amount of this stuff and I had never been happier to have it around. I grabbed my cup and sat down at the kitchen table. The rose and the note were back in the middle of the table, laying there as if I had never moved them. I lifted the rose, twirling it slowly in my fingers. Maybe it was a symbol, but of what? What could the two things together mean? I sighed and set the rose back down on the note.

"Vic?" I turned around to see Jaime standing in the doorway. I gave him a weak smile and he moved to sit in the chair across from me at the table.

"I don't think that there is anything that I can say that will make you feel better, but I know that you should have faith." I nodded my head slowly, not really convinced by what he was telling me, but I tried to keep an open mind. "Vic, I know Kellin really loves you. There had to be a good reason why he left." I glanced at the rose again, not wanting to argue with him about how wrong he might be. The only thing that mattered now was the fact that he was gone and there was nothing I could do to change that fact.

Jaime reached over and gripped my hand in his. "Just know that you aren't alone, Vic. We'll always be here for you when you need us." He gave my hand a light squeeze and stood, heading in the direction of the stairs. I muttered a thank you to him, although I was sure that he was too far away to have heard it.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, searching my messages for the one Kellin sent to me last night. My eyes began to water again and I quickly wiped away the moisture, locking the message and setting my phone on the table. I knew that this would be hard, but crying wasn't going to solve anything now and it sure as hell wouldn't make me feel any better. As I was putting my phone back into my pocket, it vibrated again. Jason.

_We got the okay to start recording. The label wants you guys in the studio on Friday at noon. I'll see you guys then _

At the moment, this news did nothing but stress me out a little, but in another way, I was grateful for it. At least with this I would have something to occupy my time with. Hopefully I would be distracted enough that it would be less difficult for me to cope.

As I was heading up to my room I realized that Kellin's mom probably had no idea that he was gone. I debated calling her, but decided that I would wait and talk to Jesse and the guys first. I didn't want to be the one to tell her the bad news and I wasn't sure if Kellin had sent her anything either. This was quickly becoming more complicated than I would like it to be.

I quickly showered and by the time I was finished, Mike and Tony were awake. Neither of them mentioned Kellin, and for that I was grateful. The last thing I wanted to do right now was talk about it while it was still fresh. My brother walked over and put his hands on my shoulders, looking intently into my eyes. He didn't have to say anything and I wrapped him in a hug. I knew what he was trying to tell me as he squeezed me and then let go. Tony gave me a comforting smile.

"Thanks Tony for letting me use you as a pillow." I mumbled quietly. I don't know why, but I was slightly embarrassed by it.

"Anytime." He chuckled lightheartedly and patted my shoulder. I knew then in this moment that if I had these three with me, this wouldn't be as hard. They would help me keep my hopes in check and they were my ray of light in an otherwise dark situation. I just hoped that wherever Kellin was that he was safe and that I would see him soon.

**A/N: ****Alright I know you guys are mad that I split them up, but I promise everything will work out later...maybe. Anyway this chapter is a little short but I needed to have a chapter dedicated to how Vic handles the initial shock of it. Next chapter will be longer.******

**Love you guys!**


	3. Coping

We began recording on Friday and I was so glad that I had something to distract me. It was sad, but I had already grown use to Kellin being gone. I woke up every morning to an empty bed and I would sit there thinking for a moment before getting up and starting my day. No one asked me about how I was handling things and I was actually glad that they didn't. It was a lot easier to handle without everyone trying to baby me.

"Vic, we need you to go over the vocal track one more time and then you're done for today." Jason spoke into the speaker system from outside the booth. I nodded my head before they began running the track again through my headphones. I waited until the cue and starting to sing the verse. It was that song… his song. My mind began wondering to Kellin and the first time I sang it to him. My eyes closed and I channeled the feelings that I use to have back then and before I knew it the verse was over and my breathing was labored.

"Vic… are you okay?" Jason's voice came over the intercom again. I glanced up at him, noticing the concerned expression on his face.

"Uh… yeah I'm fine." I replied. I grabbed my stuff and exited the booth. "So I'm done for the day right?" Jason kind of just stared at me, gauging what he should say next.

"Yeah, I'll call you if we need anything else." He gave me a half smile and I turned to leave. Once outside of the building, I let out a shaky breath that I didn't realize that I was holding back. So much emotion had passed through me this week and a new one was beginning to take over: anger.

I was angry. Angry at Kellin, angry at myself, angry at everything. I had no idea where this really came from, but I wanted it to go away. I walked over to my car and got in, slamming the door closed. An enraged yell of frustration erupted from my chest and I threw my head against the steering wheel a few times before laying there and breathing steadily.

"Why? Why the fuck did you leave?!" Anyone who would have walked passed my car right now would have thought that I was crazy. I mean who wouldn't? I was sitting in my car screaming at someone who wasn't even there. "God I fucking hate this! I'm done, I'm so fucking done. I can't do this anymore!"

I started the car and headed in the direction of the house. Today was not my day and all I wanted to do was sit and watch something that would keep my mind off of Kellin. I needed something to distract me from the growing rage. As I pulled up to the house, I noticed that my brother was sitting out on the porch. Great. Just what I needed, a witness.

I got out of my car, slamming the door and began walking up to the front door. I went to walk past Mike without saying anything, but I wasn't that lucky. He grabbed me by the wrist before I could get to the door. I tried pulling myself free mumbling a feeble _let go. _

"Sit." He demanded. I sighed angrily before plopping down next to him. He didn't say anything at first, just sat there and looked at me. As I was going to say something, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. "I know it's only been a week, and you're going through a lot of emotional shit right now, but you need to focus." He stared intently at me. "The band needs our vocalist back… I need my brother back… you can't keep shutting yourself away from the rest of us."

I was thrown off by this intervention. "I'm… sorry." What else could I really say to him. "I just… I'm so… I don't even know anymore." I sighed and put my head in my hands. "I'm sad and depressed one minute, then I feel worthless and angry the next. I just don't know how to handle this." He began to rub my back lightly.

"I know this is hard, but think, what would Kellin want you to do?" I looked up at him curiously. "Would he want you to sit and mope about and be depressed or would he want you to continue living your dream and making music?"

"You're right." My attitude perked up a little. "I can't keep going on like this. We have to finish this album and start the next tour. I can't keep focusing on him being gone." I gave Mike a pat on the shoulder. "Thanks Mike. I appreciate it, I really do." I went to leave.

"You know I'm always here for you." He stood and followed me inside. Tony and Jaime were sitting inside playing video games and arguing about something stupid. It was comforting to hear them acting like their normal selves.

"Hey Vic, if Tony and I got into a wrestling match who would win?" Jaime paused the game and stared up at me.

"Uh…" I looked between the two of them. Jaime was definitely more built, but Tony was quicker.

"Tony." Mike stated simply.

"You're only saying that because he's your boyfriend." Jaime argued as Mike leaned over and pecked Tony's lips before sitting next to him and pulling him into his lap.

"Well considering he-"

"Nope!" I yelled. "TMI. I don't need to know this." I covered my ears and began making lala noises.

"Vic, you didn't answer me." Jaime was still starring at me, moving closer to me.

"I claim Switzerland!" I yelled as I ran up the stairs, laughing for the first time all week. He bounded up after me and cornered me in one of the corners of the hallway. I tried ducking under his arm and he grabbed me around my waist and began tickling me. I began to thrash around, giggling like mad.

"Jaime stop!" I managed in between giggles. "I can't… I can't breathe!"

"Not until you give me an answer."

"Fine… you!" I was almost crying now from laughing. "You would win! Now let me go." He stopped his assault and leaned forward against the wall, his head by my neck. We were both breathing heavily and he was laughing lightly.

"I knew it." He breathed giving me a cheesy grin. I just chuckled and shoved him off of me.

"Well don't get use to it. I only agreed so you'd let me go." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"You'll regret that Fuentes." He made a tickling motion with his fingers and the smirk dropped from my face.

"No please don't tickle me again." He put his arm around me and squeezed.

"It's good to hear your laugh again. I was beginning to get worried that we'd never hear it again." He smiled down at me and I felt my cheeks heat up. "Come on. Let's order some pizza and have a band date and watch crappy movies all night."

"Sounds like a plan." We headed back downstairs and joined Mike and Tony.

We ordered a few pizzas and Mike ran to the redbox and rented a few movies. We spent the remainder of the night just hanging out and having fun. It was nice to be able to just feel normal for a change. But there was this nagging feeling in the back of my mind and I couldn't shake it. I did my best to ignore it. I was learning to ignore the little feelings that I kept getting. They would go away eventually.

**A/N: ****So I know that this chapter is kinda jumpy and I just needed to fill a little bit of a time gap before the** **next chapter. **

**I promise the next one will be better! Love you guy**


	4. Don't Give Up Just Yet

I sat, leaning against the cool tile, letting the hot water roll over my body. I don't know how long I've been in here. It feels like it's been forever, but it couldn't have been longer than an hour or so. I was staring into the upper left corner of the shower just watching the steam roll over the top of the door. I was numb, not in the literal sense of the word, but in more of a figurative manner. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was going on inside my head. It was like my mind was a blank canvas waiting to be painted, but there was no artist. He had vanished and he took his muse with him. How long would the canvas remain untouched before I gave up completely?

I blinked the water (Or were they tears? I don't even know anymore.) out of my tired eyes. I couldn't really differentiate what was real at this point. It didn't even feel like it would matter even if I could. I pulled myself up from the floor and reached over, turning the water off. I stood there just letting the water drip off of my body as I stared at the wet tile that covered the floor.

Why? Why did he leave? Why did he leave and why didn't he tell me? How long would he stay gone? Why wasn't I strong enough to live on my own after so long?

So many questions filled my once empty mind. I've been asking them since day one, but I didn't like this part. Coming back into reality meant facing and dealing with my pain. Facing and dealing with the pain meant accepting that it was all real and not a figment of my imagination like I had hoped that it was so many times before. And worst of all, accepting that it was real meant that he was really gone.

All I wanted was to go back in time to a few months ago and freeze time. Then I would be stuck in a time where I was once happy. Unfortunately, this wasn't Dr. Who and time travel didn't exist in the real world. So, here I am standing in my shower dripping wet, wallowing in my misery, and very much alone.

I sighed heavily as I stepped out of the steam filled shower into the harsh coldness that filled the bathroom. (We really need to get a heat bulb for in here.) I guess that was something else that I would add to the list of things that I really should care about later. I blinked and looked in the direction of the mirror that hung on the wall. The mirror reflected my misery back at me. Have I always looked this much like a lifeless zombie? No, I suppose not, but it sure felt like I had. I don't even recognize those brown eyes that are staring back at me. That person in the mirror isn't me… or at least it's not who I use to be…

Where did I go? Did he take the man I was with him when he left? Did my subconscious lock away who I once was so I could move on with my life? I doubt it. Otherwise I wouldn't be standing here asking these questions. This was the reflection of someone who was at the lowest point with no hope of coming back up for air. Someone who was giving up and not looking back. I wish. All I did now was look back. I so desperately wanted to go back, but I couldn't. He had made sure of that when he left and didn't leave me with so much as a reason why.

I turned away, disgusted at my own reflection, and headed into the darkness of my room to get dressed for the day. The last thing that I wanted to do was go to a signing when I felt like this. The fans really didn't need to see this side of me, and I wasn't sure I could hide how craptastic I felt. But I knew that I couldn't skip this. There were too many things riding on this day and I really wasn't one to disappoint our fans. They were the only reason why we were here in the first place. If I failed them now, all of our hard work would have been for nothing.

That single thought was what I needed to get dressed. I pulled on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, my Bring Me The Horizon shirt, a pair of Vans, and my faithful beanie. There was no way I was going to blow dry and straighten my hair. That requires effort and I really didn't have any. I glanced at my appearance, deciding that this was as good as it was going to get before grabbing my keys and heading for my door.

Before I walked out, I reached up and touched the two dried roses that hung next to my bedroom door. They were the only things I had left now. The only things that he was gracious enough to leave me. One old and one new, but both reminders of the one who had left them with me. However, looking at them now only brought back the pain I tried so hard to let go of. I retracted my hand, hanging my head, and closing my door.

Why couldn't I just take them down and let go? It had been six months already. I guess the one held too many memories that I enjoyed and the other was the single bit of hope that I had that he would return to me. Both yet another reminder of happier times. That reason alone should be why they should be taken down. He wasn't going to come back. At least I had accepted that. I scoffed to myself as I climbed into my car and started the ignition. As much as I'd like to say I accepted it, I really hadn't, but it was the only thing I could tell myself.

I drove until I came to the Tilly's where we were holding the signing. There was already a long line of fans waiting outside. Their happy, smiling faces made me brighten a little bit as I pulled into a parking space. I noticed my brother's car a few spaces away, glad to know that he was already here, considering no one woke me up when they left this morning. I could really use a moment with him. He was the only person that seemed to make me feel even the slightest bit better the last few months. Not to say that the others haven't tried, they did manage to make these last few months more bearable, but it was just that my brother knew me better than anyone else. We didn't have to talk to share what was on our minds, we just knew.

I stepped from my car and walked around to the back entrance, my hood pulled over my head so that I wouldn't be noticed as easily. The manager let me in and led me to the signing table. My brother sat there with the other two, having a heated discussion about something. I took the seat next to him and he turned to me. He didn't say anything, but I just shook my head, letting him know that now wasn't the time, we would talk later.

They began letting people in for the signing. I put on my best façade and tried to seem excited about this. After all it wasn't like the fans had done anything to me. We spent the next hour or so signing, taking pictures, and talking to the fans about whatever they wanted to know. I have to admit that it was kind of refreshing to talk about happy things. There were people here that I had met before, and I loved hearing that their lives were doing better than the last time I had seen them. This was another reason why I loved what we do. If making music that makes me feel better can help someone else, then I was happy that we had been given this chance.

After another hour, the line had pretty much diminished and we were starting to pack things up. The guys were busily talking about some movie that they wanted to go see, but I didn't catch the name of it. I was staring to put away the extra posters behind the table when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up to see that Mike was staring in the direction of the front doors of the store. I gave him a questioning look and he just pointed towards where he was looking. Turning, I glanced towards the door, my breath instantly hitching in my throat. My heart began to beat rapidly and I felt like I might pass out. My brother and the other two had suddenly disappeared.

"Kellin…" I breathed and he just grinned.

"Hi Vic."

**A/N: Happy now? Okay so this chapter is way more detailed than most. This was also the very first chapter I wrote for this story. Sorry bout the cliffhanger...not really. I need a little suspense for the next one.**

**I love you guys =)**


	5. Explain

I moved from my statue like position from behind the table and began walking towards him. He didn't say anything as I reached my hand up to touch his face. I brushed my fingers lightly against his cheek, feeling the smooth skin underneath. He was real; I wasn't dreaming again. I glanced up into his eyes. They were filled with a number of different emotions, but the one that stood out to me the most was love. His eyes were shining with the same love that he had from the moment we got together.

My emotions overcame me and I reached out and crushed him against my body in a tight embrace. I hadn't even realized that I had started crying as the hot tears began running down my cheeks in streams. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around my waist and squeezed against me gently.

And for the next few minutes we just stood there, neither of us moving to pull away. He let me cry against his shoulder as he began to rub gentle circles across my back, trying to calm me down. I had dreamt of this exact moment for months. I had planned out what I wanted to say to him, how I would react to him, but none of that mattered now. Everything that I had planned had flown out the window the moment my eyes fell on him. Any anger that I had vanished and all I cared about was the man that was currently pressed against my body.

Once I was calm enough, I pulled back and looked up at him, smiling a little bit. He reached up and brushed his thumb against my cheek, rubbing away the last of my tears. He smiled down at me lovingly.

"I've missed you, so so much Vic." He whispered.

"I've… I've missed you too Kellin." I managed to get out the words without breaking down again. He put his hand against my cheek and leaned forward , pressing his lips to mine in a hesitant kiss. My eyes fluttered shut and I pulled him closer to me in an attempt to deepen the kiss. He must have been waiting for something from me because he tightened his grip on me and the kiss quickly became needy and passionate. The need breathe pulled us apart, but not before he pecked me one last time.

Come on, let's go home." He grabbed my hand and began to pull me towards the door. "I have a lot to tell you." And that might just be the understatement of the year.

Kellin and I sat rather awkwardly at the kitchen table of my… our… the house. We had been here for about five minutes and Kellin was just sitting there, looking at me. I wasn't sure how to even begin this conversation and I didn't think that I was going to enjoy this in the slightest. Kellin exhaled deeply and looked into my eyes, opening his mouth to speak.

"Why?" I spoke before he had the chance to say anything. He seemed to be thrown off by my sudden question.

"Uh…"

"Why would you just leave and not tell me?" I didn't mean for that to come out as harshly as it did. "Did I do something? I'm assuming not considering how you were so happy to see me. So please, enlighten me Kellin, because I'd really… _really_ like to know."

"Vic, you have every right to be upset with me, but it's going to be okay." Kellin tried to reason with me. I couldn't help the surge of anger that rose inside of me.

"You just left without so much as a goodbye, leaving me nothing but I'm sorry and you expect me to just believe that it's going to be okay?" I scoffed. "Kellin six months is an awfully long fucking time! That's six months of my life without you that I can't get back. Six months of depression, of tears. How can you just say that it's going to be okay?" He just stared at me with sadness in his eyes and I dropped my gaze to the floor.

"I…"

"What if it had been me?" I looked back up at him, tears threatening to fall from my eyes. "What would you have done if I had just left one day and said nothing? Kellin you could have been dead!" My voice was rising and I felt the tears spilling from the corners of my eyes now. "And what about Jesse, your best friend. Or Jack, Gabe, Justin?" I was listing them on my fingers. "And Mike, Jaime, and Tony? Not even your own mother? No one… knew… _**anything**_." My resolve broke and I was starting to sob.

Kellin moved from his spot at the table and knelt in front of me. He slowly reached up to cup my face, brushing away my tears with his thumb. I just stared down at him through my watery vision.

"I don't think you'll even understand how alone and worried I have been." My voice came out in a strangled whisper. "I had just about given up, not knowing what to think, what to hope for anymore."

"Vic," I focused on him. "I never wanted to leave you… I didn't have a choice."

"What do you mean?" I sniffled and just blinked at him blankly, perplexed by his statement. "How could you not have a choice?" He sighed again.

"It's my dad's fault." My whole body tensed at his words.

"Your dad's back?"

"No. Well… not really." He ran a hand through his hair. "He got into trouble, and I mean a lot of trouble. He ran into the cartel down in Baja California and managed to rack up a considerable amount of debt with them. And instead of paying up or working it off, he ran, and when they couldn't find him soon enough… they came to find me. They came the night of the concert."

"What did they want?"

"They demanded that I either find and turn in my father or work off his debt as an exchange." He looked away as if he was ashamed. "They told me that if I didn't leave with them that day, they were going to go after everyone that I loved, starting with you and my mother." I just stared at him. It all made sense now. The suddenness of his departure, the simple note, no one knowing anything. Everything made sense, and any anger I had was long gone now. It had been replaced by relief.

"So what did you do?" I was frightened by what he might say. I mean, I didn't care about his dad, but still… He looked away again, lowering his head. "Kellin, please, talk to me."

"I… I refused to give up my father…" He returned his gaze to mine. "As much as I hate the man, I couldn't do it. He's still my father Vic." His eyes began to water, but he quickly wiped it away, almost as if he was surprised by them. "So I worked for them."

We stayed silent for a few minutes. I had no idea what to say to him. I wasn't angry anymore; I was just glad to have him back, but I wish it had been under better circumstances. I reached forward and wrapped him in my arms.

"I'm just glad to have you home again." I whispered into his hair.

"Me too." I chuckled lightheartedly. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." I was unsure if I wanted him to tell me anymore about his time in Mexico. I knew that whatever had happened while he was there was something that he would tell me in time and I didn't want to push things. "Come on. Let's go to our room." I took his hand and led him upstairs.

**A/N: So just so you know…Kellin isn't completely done with his dad's issues. Just let that sink in and see if you can guess what I'm going to do to them next **

**Mwahahaha….love you guys XD**


	6. Reunions

Kellin and I were lying on our bed just relaxing, basking in the joy of being together again. I had sent a group message to the guys and they responded saying that they were going to be back any minute, which meant we should probably get dressed, but I was way too lazy. That and I finally had Kellin back in my arms so excuse me if I'm not super eager to let him go again just yet.

It wasn't long before I heard the front door open and close, signaling that the others were home. Time's up…

"Come on babe, we should get dressed." Kellin sighed as he sat up, shaking my shoulder slightly.

"Don't wanna." I wined and pulled him back, letting him fall against me. He chuckled and kissed me gently.

"Nope, come on." He got out of bed, after prying himself away from me, and went to find a pair of boxer briefs to put on. Footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs and I decided I really didn't want my friends walking in on me naked. Sighing again, I got up and began to get dressed as a knock sounded against my door.

"Vic?" Came Jaime's voice.

"We'll be right down." I called back to him as I slipped a shirt over my head. I smacked Kellin's ass lightly as we began to head downstairs. When we got there, Jaime, Tony, and my brother were all sitting in the living room, watching us. Awkwardly, we sat down on the couch.

"K… so I owe you guys an explanation." Kellin began.

"You might want to wait a few seconds." Tony interrupted. Right after he spoke, there was a knock at the door. Mike stood up and walked over, opening it to reveal four other people.

"Kellin!" Jesse practically screeched as he ran over and embraced him in a huge hug.

"Hey.." Kellin replied quietly. "Jess, I can't breathe."

"Sorry." Jesse let Kellin go as Jack, Gabe, and Justin joined us in the living room. Once everyone was settled, all eyes were on Kellin.

"Ok spill." Jesse pretty much demanded.

Kellin sighed before beginning his story again. He started with the first night and then continued about the cartel and his father. I had never seen a group of teenagers sit so quietly for so long. After a little while, Mike reached over and took Tony's hand in his, never breaking eye contact with Kellin. I could understand his uneasiness. At least Kellin wasn't crying again, it was hard enough to watch the first time…

"And that's what happened." Kellin was gauging everyone's responses.

"Damn." Justin breathed. "I can't believe that something so serious happened right under our noses."

"Yeah." Gabe agreed. "It's so crazy." I turned to look at Jesse. He had been quiet the entire time and now he was sitting with his head resting on his closed hands. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.

"I'm just glad that you're home and safe." Jaime was the one to break the tension. "Now I think we should go out and celebrate Kellin's safe return." There were nods of agreement throughout the whole group.

"Come on then, let's not wait for the grass to grow." Mike announced in a British accent. Leave it to him to bring up Harry Potter at a time like this. Everyone stood except Kellin, Jesse and I. Mike gave me a confused look.

"We'll meet you outside." I nodded my head towards Jesse and Mike nodded in understanding. Once the door was closed, I turned to look at Jesse and motioned to whether or not I should leave. He shook his head and turned to Kellin.

They didn't say anything and just kind of had a silent conversation with each other. I wasn't sure what I should do in this situation, but I could see that Jesse's eyes were beginning to water. This was a side of him that I have never seen before, but I couldn't blame him, they were best friends after all. I was beginning to feel a little bit like I was invading…

"Kellin, I can't even begin to express how happy I am right now." Jesse finally spoke. His voice was shaky and I was almost positive that he was going to cry. Kellin moved from his spot next to me and pulled Jesse into a hug.

"Jesse, I will never be able to say sorry enough. It was bad enough to put Vic through this, but you're my best friend and I can only imagine how hard this was for you…" Kellin's voice was quiet, but he wasn't as shaky as Jesse. Again, I got that awkward feeling and just sat there with my legs together, tapping my fingers against the side of my legs.

"Alright, we better go before they think something happened." Jesse wiped his eyes and pulled away from Kellin's grasp.

"Are you going to be okay?" I reached over and touched his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'll be fine as long as this ass stays where he's supposed to be." He motioned towards Kellin who kind of just sat there.

"I have no plans on going anywhere." He smiled and reached over, taking my hand in his and reaching for Jesse's with the other. With that, we strolled out of the house and joined the other's who were waiting patiently on the sidewalk.

"Ready to go?" Mike questioned.

"Yep." I grinned as we joined with them.

We headed in the direction of a nearby family restaurant. It was the only place where nine of us could sit together and not look like we were about to wreck the place. We spent a ton of money on a buffet type meal for all of us to share and spent the rest of the night just relaxing. Kellin told us stories about some of the people that he met while in Mexico. We were all interested in how his time was spent, but I knew that he was sparing us any details that might be cause for alarm.

I was really hoping that he would tell me honestly what had happened while he was gone. Unfortunately, forcing him to tell me was not on my list of things to do. I wouldn't even know how to start that conversation in the first place. So for now I'm just glad he's back and we can focus on the record and upcoming tour that Kellin and the guys were supposed to open for us on. We had a lot of work to do before they were going to be ready. Let the fun begin…

**A/N: So I needed something to distract me from all of the BS that's been on tumblr today. For the record I HATE April fool's day. And it was on a Monday of all days...bleh. Anyway. I hope you guys enjoy to little broment with Kellin and Jesse =)**


	7. Just The Beginning

"Vic can you please not jump off of that?" Jason yelled from the ground level in front of stage.

"Sorry!" I yelled back, laughing quietly as I noticed Mike imitating him from behind his drum set.

"Does he not realize that you're going to do it anyway?" Tony questioned as he walked past me.

"Yeah, I mean we're still teenagers, we're going to do stupid shit like jump off of risers and amps." Jaime added as he switched his bass. They both had valid points. What was the fun of a rock show without a little added danger here and there?

"Alright, let's run through it one more time, then you guys can wrap up." Jason called out and we all rolled our heads back and mock groaned. "I can keep you here all night if you would prefer."

"NO!" we all yelled in unison as we hustled back to our positions.

We were finishing up all of the last details of our set list. We were going to kick off the tour the da after tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited. What was even better was that we convinced our label to let Kellin and the guys open for us.

See, before Kellin's impromptu trip to Mexico, he and Jesse had finished writing everything they had together from Oregon. While he was gone, Jesse, Gabe, Jack, and Justin had tracked everything except the vocals. The label had said to just replace him and move on, but Jesse and the guys refused. They were doing this with Kellin or not at all.

So in the week that Kellin's been back, he had been pretty much locked in the recording studio tracking vocals. He had texted earlier telling me that they had finally finished the last song about an hour before practice began. I was super excited for them. Their acoustic stuff and YouTube videos had been getting decent reviews from all over the country.

We finished up Yeah Boy and Doll Face and Jason seemed to be satisfied with our performance and let us go. We helped the crew finish clean up and headed out. We were meeting up with the guys and having a bit of a party before tour kicked off. We figured that if we partied hard tonight instead of tomorrow, then we wouldn't have to deal with the consequences while stuck together in a bus. I mean, I loved the guys and everything, but nine teenage and young adult guys in one bus while nursing hangovers and lack of sleep is not a recipe for success.

"So where are we meeting them?" Mike threw his arm across my shoulders and leaned his weight against me.

"Ew Mike!" I wailed. "You are so covered in sweat right now!"

"Bask in the smell hermano!" He put me in a headlock and I started gasping dramatically.

"Babe," Tony poked him really hard in the side, "Don't pick on your brother." Mike released me and leaned over, kissing Tony on the cheek.

"Anyway, we're meeting them at Denny's right by the house." I answered as I wiped at my face and neck.

"Well, I'll see you there." Jaime smiled before stepping over to his car. "I'm going to call Aubrey and tell her bye before we get busy tomorrow."

"Sounds good." I called over as Mike and Tony piled into my car. How we winded up all in mine except for Jaime was a mystery to me, but I wasn't going to question it. We drove the short distance from the practice venue over to the Denny's by our house. Kellin and the other guys already had the back room reserved and we weren't surprised to see them already chilling back there. We bypassed the hostess and just motioned towards the back. She gave us a curt nod and turned back to the guest at the counter.

"Hey guys." Kellin jumped up and made his way over towards me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me into a quick kiss.

"Hi babe." I chuckled lightly. "How was recording?"

"Long… and really hot." He pulled me down into the seat next to him. "I never realized how humid those booths can get."

"Yup." Jesse laughed. "Welcome to mine and Vic's lives."

"I know…" He sighed. "Anyway, how was practice guys?"

"Vic got into trouble." Tony poked at me.

"Hey, I didn't really get into trouble."

"Vic, he yelled pretty loudly." Mike argued.

"Well Jason can be pretty anal about things." Justin piped in.

"I can be pretty anal about things." Kellin whispered into my ear, letting his warm breath ghost over my skin causing goose bumps to form. I felt a shiver run through my spine and my breathing hitched ever so lightly. I really couldn't have him turning me on here, not while so many of our friends were around. I reached behind me and gripped his knee.

"Later." I whispered. Luckily the guys were in a deep conversation about something and not paying attention to us.

"I'm going to make you scream my name when we get home." He licked the shell of my ear and I gulped. This was going to be a long night.

"Hope you guys didn't start the party without me!" Jaime came bounding into the room, a huge grin on his face.

"Of course not!" Gabe laughed as Jaime took the spot next to him.

With everyone present, we finally placed our order. I tried really hard to keep Kellin's hands off of me throughout the night, and let me tell you, I was failing miserably. Due to the fact that he and I were in our own side of the booth, he could pretty much get away with whatever he wanted. I was pretty much writhing by the time we were ready to leave.

Kellin had informed me that the guys had plans to stay up and play drinking games at the house, which meant that he and I could have our fun without interruption. He practically dragged me up the stairs as soon as everyone was inside, yelling that we were going to watch a movie. I just caught the look Mike threw me before shaking his head and returning his attention to Tony.

I couldn't even register what was happening because as soon as we were in the room, Kellin threw me up against the door and crashed his lips to mine. The kiss was needy and demanding, nothing but biting and fighting for dominance. I groaned into his mouth as I reached around and locked my door just in time. Kellin pulled my shirt from my torso and dragged me towards our bed.

We toppled over onto it, Kellin landing on top of me and straddling my hips. He reached his hand down and gripped them tightly, causing me to gasp into his mouth. I loved this side of Kellin, and I was glad that it was becoming more of an occurrence. I grabbed the bottom of his shirt, practically tearing it from his body, and let my hands run up his chest and into his hair. He groaned as I pulled back on it and moved his mouth down my neck, nipping and sucking the flesh. He was rutting his hips into mine in the most illegal way possible.

"Kellin…" I whined. He got the hint and moved his hands over the not so discreet bulge in my pants. I bucked my hips upwards into his hand and I heard him chuckle a little. He leaned forward and kissed my neck, moving his hands to undo the button and zipper of my pants before yanking them down, taking my boxers down with them. I hissed as cold air ran over my body, but it quickly turned into a cry of pleasure as he wrapped a hand around me tightly.

He flicked his wrist a few times as he crawled down my body, eyes locked on mine the entire way. He winked at me before running his tongue up my length, the sight almost enough to make me come. He didn't waste time and slid my length fully into his mouth causing me to throw my head back and a low groan to leave my lips again. I reached down, threading my fingers in his dark hair, urging him to continue. He hollowed his cheeks and hummed around me, sending vibrations throughout my entire body. I felt like my nerve endings were on fire and I couldn't help but whine when he pulled away.

My whine of protest was quickly silenced by his lips and replaced with a moan as he slipped a finger into me. I wasn't sure how he had gotten lube, but I wasn't about to complain. I pulled away and let out a ragged breath as he slipped a second finger in. It had been a while since Kellin had last topped and to be honest, I never did this myself.

"Relax baby." He cooed into my ear, trying to get me to loosen up. He curled his fingers and I let out a loud moan and pushed back against his fingers.

"Harder." I breathed and I could feel him smirk against my skin as he slid in a third finger and pushed in, twisting slightly. I was a moaning mess underneath him and I was glad that we had soundproofed our room when we moved in. Last thing we needed was for all of our friends to hear us.

"I've been dying to be inside of you for so long." He whispered huskily into my ear, flicking his tongue against the shell. He slipped his fingers out and I felt him move against my entrance and push in. I let out a cry of pleasure and pain as he began moving, not letting me adjust completely.

"I would think of you in my room." His words were turning me on so much that I didn't know how long I would last. He bit down on my neck and sucked hard against my skin. I knew there would be a mark there tomorrow.

"The things I imagined you doing to me." He thrust harder into me and I nearly screamed. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, pulling him against me tightly. I couldn't form coherent thoughts, let alone words at this point.

"The things I want to do to you." His eyes bored into mine.

"Kell-Kellin." I groaned again, throwing my head back against the pillows underneath me. The heat that was pooling in my stomach was slowly becoming painful and I was getting to the point of begging him to touch me.

"I want to hear you scream for me." My eyes snapped back to his. They were clouded and filled to the brim with lust. He reached in between our bodies and gripped my length tightly. I cried out as he began to move his hand in time with his thrusts.

"Kellin… I'm so…" I couldn't finish my sentence as a moan passed my lips. He gripped the base tightly and I groaned.

"Scream for me Vic." He was pounding against my prostate and I was so close that it hurt. "Scream and I'll let you come."

"Kellin!" I screamed as loudly as I could. "Please!" He smirked and leaned over, capturing my lips. He began flicking his wrist again and I exploded with another cry of his name, the sensations becoming too much. He moaned my name as he came inside of me and collapsed on top of me. The last thing I remember is an exchange of I love yous before passing out.

**A/N: So yeah...that chapter was pretty much just smut but it needed to be done.**


	8. A Day of Shopping

The bright light from the sun met my eyes when I woke the next morning. I groaned and tried to roll over, realizing that Kellin's arms were around me and moving was not an option. I realized that I was dressed, which was funny because I definitely don't remember putting clothes on. Carefully, I detached Kellin's arms from around me and crawled out of bed. As I stood, my head went fuzzy and I swayed slightly.

"Geez, he really went all out on me." I smirked in his direction as I stretched my sore muscles. I was surprised I could walk straight. Quietly, I walked down to the kitchen, holding in my laughter as I looked at the disaster that use to be my living room.

Tony and Mike were passed out on top of each other on the couch. Jess and Jaime had fallen asleep against the wall by the fireplace, one of Jesse's arms wrapped around Jaime's shoulder. Justin was passed out on the coffee table, and Gabe and Jack were asleep on the kitchen counters. How they slept there without falling off is beyond me.

I quickly grabbed a gogurt from the fridge and made my way back to my room. Kellin was still sleeping when I got back. I walked over to his side of the bed and sat down on the edge. Leaning over slowly, I blew a stream of air over his ear. He began to stir softly as I blew again. One last time and he was groaning and rolling over to face me.

"Was that necessary?" He squint his eyes, trying to keep what little light was in the room, out of them.

"Um probably not, but it was more fun." I leaned over and kissed him lightly before making my way over to my dresser. I pulled out some clean clothes and turned back to him. He was so gorgeous in the morning with his hair all messed up and that sleepy look on his face. It was a nice thing to wake up to.

"Care to join me for a shower?" I quirked my eyebrow at him. He grinned slowly before getting out of bed and collecting his clothes.

"Is that even a question?" He chuckled and followed behind me.

After our shower, we heard noises coming from downstairs, signaling that the others had woken up finally. We quickly dressed and headed downstairs to join the others. Anyone who would have walked into our house would have thought we were dealing with the zombie apocalypse. The amount of groaning and moaning coming from everyone was enough to supply at least six full length pornos.

Kellin, being the amazing guy that he is, went over to the coffee pot, pulling out the backup, and started brewing some coffee for everyone. It was like an assembly line when the buzzer went off on the coffee pots. I helped pull down cup and Kellin poured as each and every one of our friends took a cup and sat around our kitchen. I was glad Kellin and I opted out of drinking last night.

"Never again." Mike mumbled as he leaned his head on Tony's shoulder. "I will never drink whiskey again."

"Bull…" Jaime retorted. "You know it'll happen in like a week."

"Can you not?" Mike attempted to glare but then winced and closed his eyes. "I'd like to at least try to lie to myself…"

"That's what friends are for." Tony mumbled before drinking of his coffee. I looked over at Kellin and just chuckled lightly. Man I was glad this happened today and not tomorrow. I had the feeling that Kellin and I would be in charge of the shopping trip today since I highly doubt anyone else was up for going.

About an hour later, Kellin and I were wondering around Costco trying to figure out if we had gotten everything we needed from here. Now tell me if I'm wrong, but three flats of Monster Energy Drinks should last at least a week right? Right? God I hope so.

"Alright, that should be everything from here." I checked the list and headed towards the checkouts.

"Yeah, but we have to go to Wal-Mart next." Kellin said in mock enthusiasm.

"Oh boy." I rolled my eyes. If there was one place I could never go back to it would be Wal-Mart. I mean come on. I'm twenty and I still manage to get lost there and it's always packed… anyway.

"Yeah and that list is way longer." Kellin sighed as he handed his card to the cashier.

"Great." He paid with our credit card and we thanked the cashier before heading to our van. "Please tell me we can fit it all into at most two carts." I whined.

"If we pack nicely we might just be able to." I groaned and tossed my head back. Why the hell did we wait until last minute? Oh yeah, because we're stupid.

We packed all of the stuff into the back of the van, returned the cart, and headed in the direction of the next place. As we pulled up, I groaned again. The place was packed. And I don't mean Sunday rush packed, like this shit could rival Black Friday.

"Kellin do we have to?" I moaned as we parked.

"Babe, do you really want to have to wear the same underwear all tour?" He unbuckled his seatbelt and made to get out. I followed suit.

"I can wash them." I argued.

"Every few days for three months?" He eyed me. I groaned in defeat. "Plus, Jaime and Mike really need new socks. I mean seriously, who wears hole filled socks."

"Apparently my brother and best friend." We walked in and I really wanted to walk back out. It's a great thing that I'm not the least bit claustrophobic. "Babe."

"Yes, Vic." Kellin pulled out two carts, pushing one to me.

"I'm going to murder our band mates." He chuckled.

"Sure you are, love."

Whoever's idea this was needs to be shot. Kellin and I literally had spent two hours just gathering everything that was on our lists. If the guys didn't owe us already after this morning, you can bet they do now. Did we really need a whole new collection of movies, the entire shampoo isle, and enough packets of socks and underwear to clothe an army?

Four hundred dollars later and we were finally heading back to the van, our purchases filling the two carts to the brim. I'm fairly certain that our cashier thought we were two of the weirdest people ever considering the amount of weird crap that we bought but whatever. I'm just glad that that's over with and we can finally head home.

By the time we made it back to the house, everyone seemed to be in better moods. Justin, Jesse, Gabe, and Jaime were playing some game on the Xbox and Mike, Tony, and Jack were cooking something that surprisingly smelled amazing.

"Alright you lazy asses, come get your crap from the van." I called as Kellin and I walked through the door. Jaime paused the game and the four of them reluctantly stood and headed outside.

"What are you guys cooking?" Kellin asked as he set the keys down on the counter.

"I'm cooking pasta, and I think Mike's trying to cook French bread, but I'm not too sure." Tony chuckled.

"Hey, cooking is not my forte alright." Mike grumbled.

"You know for a genius, I wouldn't have thought cooking was your weak point." Jack added, giving Kellin a small wink. Mike just sighed and continued with his task. I couldn't help but laugh a little as well.

"Well whatever you guys are doing, hurry up. I'm starving." I plopped down on the couch and stretched a little, hearing the satisfying crack of my spine. Kellin joined me just a moment later and we watched the guys bring in the stuff from the van.

"You going to help?" Jesse chuckled as he set down one of the flats of Monster.

"Dude, we had to carry that stuff twice already." Kellin yawned and leaned back against me. Jesse picked up a pillow and chucked it at us before laughing and heading back outside.

Once everything was unloaded and set by the door for tomorrow, we sat down for lunch. I'll be the first to tell you that I had no clue that Tony and Jack could cook, and despite what Mike says, the bread was pretty good too. All in all it wasn't bad for our last meal before tour. Maybe if we were lucky, we would be able to do this every once in a while.


	9. Suspicious

Have you ever been woken up in a manner where you wanted to kill everything in your path? Yeah, welcome to my life. I was pretty sure that Jason wasn't going to survive the end of this day. I mean, who the fuck waltzes into a house with nine teenagers and uses a blow horn to wake us up? Oh, and did I mention it's five in the fucking morning?

Once I had calmed down, thanks to Kellin's reasoning, I grabbed my bag and shuffled my way to the bus that was waiting outside. I really wanted to just go back to sleep when I got inside, but no, we had to have a meeting. This day was just getting better and better.

"Alright guys, I know it's early." Jason started.

"That's the understatement of the year." I'm pretty sure that was Justin, but I'm too tired to care.

"Anyway… we just have to go over a few things and then you guys can go to your bunks and sleep." Best news I've heard all day. He went over the rules for the bus which were pretty much the usual curfew times and what can and cannot be brought on. He threw in something about not having sex, but I really wasn't paying that much attention. I was half asleep by the time he even finished.

"See that wasn't so bad." He joked. "Now get your grumpy asses back in bed and get some sleep." There were collective groans across the group. Sure, we were happy to go to sleep again, but that also meant moving.

"Come on, babe." Kellin literally pulled me to my feet and dragged me to my bunk. After making sure that I was tucked in, Kellin went to leave.

"And where do you think you're going?" I asked as I gripped his wrist, pulling him back towards me.

"My bunk?"

"Nope, get your sexy butt in here." I moved over so that he had room to lie down. He chuckled before crawling in next to me. Sure it was a small space, but it was cozy being there with him. I fell asleep almost instantly with my arms wrapped around him.

By the time I woke up and was tolerant enough for human contact, I crawled from my bunk. Kellin was already up and in the front lounge talking to Jesse. They both greeted me as I waved and walked to the fridge. I grabbed a water bottle and sat on the floor in front of them.

"Sleep well Vic?" Jesse questioned.

"Like a baby." I took a swig from my water and leaned back against the couch. "Where are we anyway?"

"I think we're in Arizona." Kellin answered as he peered out the window to his left. "At least I hope so considering how much desert is around us."

"I would think so considering the first show is in Phoenix." Jesse added.

"Are any of the others up?"

"Yeah, I think Mike, Tony, Gabe, and Jack are playing video games in the back and Justin and Jaime are hanging out back there watching." Kellin yawned a little.

"That sounds fun." I replied sarcastically. Kellin reached over and shoved my shoulder lightly.

"We should be stopping in a little bit for a break." Jesse suggested. "Maybe we can hit up a mall or something?"

"That sounds better than having to be holed up in the bus all day." I stood and stretched a little. "Baby, wake me up when we get there." I leaned over and kissed his cheek before heading to my bunk. I plugged my headphones in and lay back down, falling asleep almost immediately.

"Vic, wake up." I felt a hand shaking me lightly. I opened my eyes to see Kellin leaning over my bunk.

"I don't wanna." I whined.

"Babe, we're at the mall in Phoenix." He pulled me out of my bunk and I landed unceremoniously on my ass.

"That was mean." I looked up, pouting slightly.

"You'll live." With that he left me sitting in the middle of the hallway of the bus. I assumed that everyone else had left considering how quiet it was in the area. Stretching again, I reached over and dug out some clothes to wear. I pulled on a Blink shirt, my black skinnies, and my Vans. When I got outside, Kellin was standing there waiting.

"Geez you take forever." He joked. I rolled my eyes and we headed towards the mall entrance. I was actually pretty surprised by the size of this place. "So where do you wanna go?"

"Um, I'm not sure. I rarely go shopping remember."

"Good point." He reached for my hand and began dragging me towards one of the ends of the mall.

We spend a good amount of time shopping for clothes. I was surprised by how much time one person could spend trying to find the "right" pair of Toms. Half an hour seems like a really long time to me. Anyway, after we shopped a little, we met up with the gang for lunch in the food court. You know why I like food courts? Where else can I get a burrito, some chow mein, and a Jamba Juice in the same fifty foot radius? Exactly.

After lunch, Kellin wanted to go look around some more shops. As we were passing this one small shop, I dragged Kellin inside. This place was pretty cool. There were all different kinds of guitars on the wall, band shirts on the racks, and shelves upon shelves of music. This was my kind of shop.

"Welcome guys, looking for anything in particular?" A young girl walked around the counter and headed towards us.

"We're kind of just looking." I responded.

"Alright, well let me know if you need anything okay boys." She smiled before going back to her counter and picking up a bass.

"So, see anything you like?" Kellin questioned. I wandered around the instruments and grabbed a think of strings for back-ups.

"I think I might get these and a few shirts." I walked over to the counter.

"Ready?" The girl asked as she set her bass down. I nodded and set my stuff down. "Nice choice of strings."

"Thanks." I wasn't sure why she mentioned them.

"Do you need them for your show tomorrow?" She placed them into a bag, handing it to Kellin and smiling. We both looked at each other and then back to her. "I'm going to be there tomorrow night."

"Oh, that would make sense." I laughed.

"Yeah, I really like your stuff." She took the money from me and ran the transaction.

"Here, give the bouncer this and you can come see us after the show." Kellin handed her his badge.

"Really?" He nodded at her. "Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow." We waved goodbye and headed back to the bus.

"She seemed nice." Kellin grabbed my hand and leaned over on me.

"Mhmm." We got back into the bus and headed straight to the couch. A day of shopping was really tiring. "Sleepy?" I asked as Kellin's head rolled against mine.

"Yeah."

"Bunk?"

"Mhmm." I picked him up and carried him back to the bunk area. I set him down and crawled in behind him. "Vic, why am I so sleepy?"

"Because you couldn't decide between black or gray Toms." I managed between yawns. "Now, go to sleep." I pulled him closer to me and settled against him.

"Yes sir." I chuckled a little and felt him relax in my arms. It wasn't long before his breathing became deep and he was sleeping soundly. As carefully as I could, I moved from my bunk and went to the front lounge.

I walked over to the window and peered out of it. There was a black car sitting about a hundred feet from where the bus was parked. This was weird because we were located all the way in the back of the lot. I wasn't sure why, but it gave me a really weird vibe. I just hoped that it was my imagination.

**A/N: Hey...so I haven't heard from any of you for like 3 chapters. Where did you guys go? Anyway, this is where things start to actually get interesting. So if you guys are still reading, be prepared.**


	10. Crownies

"Call time is in ten minutes!" Jason yelled into the bus, successfully getting the attention of everyone in the bus. "If one of you guys is late, curfew will be moved an hour earlier."

I have never seen teenagers run so fast. We were ready and inside the venue within five minutes, waiting patiently for Jason. As we waited, I glanced out over the crowd, seeing all of the faces of the people who were eagerly waiting for us. I was jarred from my thoughts by Jason calling us together. He gave us the usual pep talk and then Kellin and the rest of the guys headed on stage for the opening.

I have to say that I'm pretty proud of them. And I was excited to watch their first major show. There was something that seemed to change about them when they were all on stage together. I mean, they were already really closely knit together as friends, but the music seemed to bring them even closer, if that was possible.

Kellin was mesmerizing when he sang. As I was watching him, I looked out into the crowd, watching their reactions. As far as I could tell, it seemed to be going over well. As I looked around, I noticed that there were a few people who looked out of place. I went to look again, but they were gone.

"Must be imagining things." I mumbled to myself.

"What was that bro?" Mike questioned from behind me.

"Huh? Oh nothing, I was just talking to myself." He nodded before focusing back on the stage. I gazed over the crowd again, but didn't see anyone again. I really must have imagined it.

"Alright that's it for us guys!" Kellin yelled out to the crowd. "We're Sleeping With Sirens and we'll be hanging out at our table during the next set so come hang out with us." Their set had gone really well and I could tell that the energy from playing their first large show was driving them. They came bounding off the stage and straight to us.

"Oh my god! That was amazing!" Kellin threw himself around me, his sweat covered hair sticking to my neck a little.

"You guys did great." I squeezed him in my arms.

"So, can you get use to this?" Mike asked as the others gathered near us.

"Most definitely." Jesse answered.

"Vic, Mike, Tony, Jaime, get your butts in gear!" Jason's voice rang from the other end of the back area.

"You guys better get out there before daddy blows a gasket." Justin laughed.

"Yup, duty calls." Tony grabbed Mike and Jaime and I gave Kellin a quick kiss before heading over to my gear. I watched as he and the others walked towards the dressing rooms, their excited faces making me smile.

We got out onto the stage and finished helping set up our equipment. The crowd was slightly restless by the time we were actually ready to play. And the energy jumped as I stepped up to the mic. The beginning notes to Chemical Kids rang out and people went crazy.

For the majority of the set, I kept glancing at Kellin and the guys at the merch table. He was happily talking to a group of people and I couldn't help but smile at how adorable he was. soon we were getting ready for the last song of the night.

"Alright guys, this is going to be the last song of the night. Thanks so much for coming out and seeing us. We'll be at our merch table for a little bit right after our set so make sure you come and say hi. This one's called Wonderless" The crowd cheered in response as we began our finale. That's when I spotted the same guys from earlier. They were hanging out over by the merch tables, completely out of place in the rest of the crowd. They seemed to just be here enjoying the show so I figured that they must be parents or something. Whoever they were, they weren't causing problems so I decided to ignore them and not give it too much thought.

The song ended and we thanked the crowd again for coming out and exited the stage. We instantly headed in the direction of the dressing rooms.

"I feel like every set just keeps getting better and better." Jaime announced as we walked through the doors.

"I know right. And the crowds keep getting more rambunctious." Tony ran a towel over his face, chuckling to himself.

"If you think this is rambunctious, wait until warped." Jason added.

"Oh god, I can't wait." I quickly changed into a fresh shirt and waited for the guys. When we were all ready, we headed out to our table. There was already a line of people waiting and our merch guy looked like he was holding the flood gates open. He pretty much booked it when we got there. Kellin and the guys were finishing up at their table and were heading over to us.

We spent the next half hour or so meeting with the fans. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go blind from all the camera flashes, but it was worth it. Besides, it's not like I need to see in order to play guitar and sing so I'm good.

By the time the last of the fans had gone, we were exhausted. Our crew insisted on letting us leave and handling the clean up on their own. We protested, but in the end they won that argument. So the nine of us headed to the bus and dropped into the closest sitting space available. After a while Jesse spoke up.

"Hey did anyone else notice the crownies at the back of the crowd tonight?" Kellin tensed at the question which set off alarms in my head.

"Yeah, but I'm guessing they were parents of some of the kids. I mean, we have a pretty wide age range for fans." Justin added as he laid over the edge of the couch.

"Mhhmmmhmm."

"Tony, you're talking into the pillow." Mike rolled him over so we could hear him.

"They weren't bothering anyone." He mumbled and then rolled back over.

"True, but it seems a little odd." I added. Kellin had been looking at the floor this entire time, but I wasn't sure if it was due to the conversation or if he was just tired.

"What do you think Kellin?" Jack asked, poking him in the side.

"I think I'm going to go to bed." He stood and stretched. "They didn't do anything so I wouldn't worry. G'night guys." He leaned over and gave me a quick peck before heading to the bunks. When he was out of earshot, Jesse turned to me.

"Is he okay?" He whispered. I shrugged my shoulders because I honestly didn't know. A confused look crossed his features before returning to the conversation.

I excused myself and headed back to the bunk area. I walked over to Kellin's bunk and pulled back the covers. He wasn't there. Confused, I went to the back lounge. He wasn't there either. I was beginning to panic slightly as I checked the last place he would be, my bunk. There he was curled up under the covers, snoring slightly. I laughed lightly to myself and climbed in behind him. I placed a kiss to his shoulder and wrapped him tightly in my arms.

"I'm going to protect you Kellin. I promise." I whispered against his neck. He stirred in his sleep, moving back closer against me. It took me a long time to fall asleep. My mind was going over so many different things and refused to shut down. It was early in the morning before I was finally able to fall asleep.

**A/N: Hey guys...so no one got kidnapped in this chapter. So what do you think is going to happen? I'm curious to see what your ideas are. Don't be silent readers! Love you XOXO**


	11. Carlos Montoya

It's been two weeks, and I have seen the same two guys at every show we've had. They never approached any of us, always just watched the show and minded their own business. No one mentioned them after about the third time they showed up. I wasn't sure if it was because they no longer cared or if they were just trying to ignore them. I, on the other hand, could do neither. With what happened to Kellin, there was no way I was just going to ignore a couple of creepy guys that kept making appearances at our shows.

Today was one of our days off, and I planned on walking around the area to see if I could find that black car that always seemed to show up around the venue. I had woken up at eight this morning and sneaked out of the bus before anyone else could wake up. This almost felt like I was on a mission. It took almost no time at all to find what I was looking for.

Parked about a block and a half from the venue was that same black car I had seen since Arizona. Cautiously, I began walking towards it. As I got closer, I noticed the same two guys sitting in the front seats. I couldn't tell if they were watching me because of their sunglasses, but considering they were following our bands around, they knew who I was. I was about five feet from the car when they stepped out.

"We were wondering when you'd seek us out." What? My confusion must have been written all over my face because he continues. "We need to talk to you Mr. Fuentes."

"So you decided to follow us until I got curious instead of just walking up to our merch table like a normal human being?" Okay so maybe being a smart ass wasn't the brightest decision. I still had no idea what exactly they wanted with me.

"We couldn't risk Mr. Quinn knowing." The driver took off his sunglasses. "I'm Agent Latery and this is my partner Agent Kent. We work for Interpol." Remember that comment I made about being on a mission? Ironic, right?

"What could Interpol possibly want with me? I'm like, barely even twenty."

"It's not necessarily you that we want." Agent Kent began. "We need information, and we know that you're the only one who can get what we need."

"Oh so this has something to do with what happened to Kellin in Mexico." It wasn't a question. I knew that's what this was going to be about from the moment I noticed they were following us.

"Victor are-"

"Vic, not Victor." Okay so that was rude, but we're beyond formality and polite behavior.

"Vic then. Are you aware of who Kellin was working with?" Agent Latery inquired.

"Not really. Kellin didn't want to talk about Mexico when he got home. I can't really blame him. If I was kidnapped for three months, I wouldn't want that to be the first thing I talked about when I got back."

"The man who was responsible for Kellin's kidnapping was Carlos Montoya. He's wanted in five different countries for murder and drug trafficking." Agent Kent leaned back against his car. "We need to know if Kellin knows anything about where the main headquarters is located so we can take him down."

"And put Kellin in the direct line of danger, yeah I don't think so." I crossed my arms and just stared at them.

"Vic, you guys would be put in witness protection." Agent Latery tried to reason.

"Yeah, and I would have to throw away the life that I worked so hard to put together. Again, I don't think so."

"I told you this kid wouldn't listen." Agent Kent motioned towards me before throwing his hands in the air. "But no, nobody listens to me."

"Are you done now?" Latery was not amused. "Vic, if it means so much to do to have this life-"

"It does."

"Right, then the only thing that we ask is that if Kellin decides to talk to you about it, then you'll call us." Kent handed me a card. "We can just claim that we bugged your phone or something." I nodded and he seemed to be satisfied with that. They both nodded and then returned to their car. I watched as they drove in the opposite direction from our bus, not sure if I was relieved that they were gone or scared that something worse was going to come.

As I walked back to the bus, I kept twirling the card between my fingers. It was almost hard to believe that this all happened because of Kellin's dad. Almost. He seemed to be the root of several of our problems if you really think about it. The thing that I really hated was that there was nothing I could do to change that fact.

I sighed deeply as I opened the door to the bus and walked in. Everyone seemed to be sleeping still. Wide awake with no intention of falling back asleep, I walked to the back lounge and scanned through our movie collection. Eventually I decided on Coraline, no real surprise there, and relaxed into the couch. It was about half way over when I began hearing people moving around the bus.

Kellin found me first. He walked into the back lounge and joined me for the remainder of my movie. After it was over, he reached over and turned off the TV.

"So where did you go this morning?" I looked up and over at him. "I got up to go to the bathroom and heard the front door close."

"I went on a walk for a little bit." Technically this wasn't a lie.

"Mhmm. Have you been up this whole time?" I asked, pulling him into my lap.

"No, I went back to sleep." I hummed against his neck as I began kissing him lightly. It had been far too long since we were about to be alone. He moved so that he was straddling my legs, moving his head so that our lips connected. He moved his cold hands to my sides, slipping them upwards under my shirt. I hummed against his lips and moved them towards his neck. He let out a small gasp as I bit behind his ear and ground his hips down into mine, causing a low groan to erupt from my throat.

I moved so that I could reach over and lock the door. Last thing I needed was someone walking in here. I shuffled down so that I was lying against the couch, Kellin lying on top of me. He reached up, disconnecting our lips and pulling my shirt off, quickly discarding his own as well. I reached down and slid my hands down his back as he moved against me.

Things were getting pretty heated when footsteps headed in our direction. Kellin groaned in frustration and moved so that he could grab our shirts off of the floor. He tossed mine to me just as there was a knock on the door.

"Hey we're going to go get food, you two want anything?" Jesse's voice called through the door.

"Yeah, a moment alone so I can fuck my boyfriend." Kellin yelled back. There was a moment of silence.

"I'll just get your usual." Jesse hurriedly replied, before retreating to the front.

"Nice babe." I replied sarcastically.

"His fault." He smirked. "Just wait until we get to the next hotel. Your ass is mine." With that, he got up and left the room, leaving me to just watch after him with a wide grin on my face.

**A/N: Whoooooo! Next chapter done. Ok so now we're getting somewhere. This is the part where things are beginning to get interesting. Leave me comments and see if you can figure out what's going to happen.**


	12. You're Mine

The next day, we were playing a show in Florida. I hadn't seen the black car, or the two guys since yesterday morning and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. The few hours before the set were spent at the beach, relaxing and enjoying the nice weather. I couldn't remember the last time I had gone to the beach, which is really sad considering I live right by one.

"Vic, can you get my back?" Kellin held out a bottle of sunscreen while turning.

"Sure thing my little snowflake." I teased as I poured some onto my hands and began to work it into his pale skin.

"Keep it up. I'll remember this tonight at the hotel."

"I'm so scared babe." I replied sarcastically as I finished his back.

"Good, you should be." He turned and grabbed the bottle from my hand before leaning in and kissing me. I was just expecting a peck since we were in public, but he lingered, deepening the kiss a little. He bit down on my bottom lip, pulling it back between his teeth before pulling away. He smirked, winked, and walked towards the water.

"Dude, you are so whipped." Jesse's voice laughed from behind me.

"Yeah, and unfortunately, he knows it." I chuckled. Jesse nodded and took the spot next to me on the blanket.

"So," He began, "I noticed that the black car stopped following us." My eyes widened and I could feel my breath getting caught in my throat. I swallowed thickly. "Come on Vic. You honestly can't believe that you were the only one of us that noticed it."

"No, I figured you guys picked up on it after the first show a few weeks ago." I admitted.

"So spill." I looked over at the water, seeing Kellin standing a decent distance away, talking to Tony and Justin.

"Alright, but this stays between you and me until I figure out what I'm going to do about this." He nodded and I sighed. I began telling him about what happened yesterday. I told him about the agents and what they needed from Kellin. The entire time, Jesse kept his eyes on Kellin, nodding occasionally to show that he was still paying attention. By the end of it, he was looking at me again.

"You know, one of these days, you're going to get into real trouble for being a smartass. You understand that right?"

"Yeah, but what else was I supposed to do Jesse? He would be so pissed if I went behind his back and gave them information like that. He hasn't even spoken about Mexico since coming home." I glanced over towards Kellin who turned and gave me a smile before Justin dunked him into the water. "That and music means so much to all of us. If they put us into witness protection, we would have to give up those dreams and I couldn't do that to you guys let alone myself and Kellin."

"Yes, that's true, but Kellin's safety is what is truly important and you have to put that first." I looked down at the sand and he sighed. "So do you have any ideas about what you're going to tell him?"

"First I need to know what Kellin knows. I'm going to ask him about it tomorrow."

"Why not at the hotel tonight?" I turned to him and gave him a look that basically said are you really asking that? "Oh… ooooh."

"Yeah."

"So, I'm sleeping with headphones in." A shiver went down his back.

"Isn't your room the one between mine and Mike's room? Which he shares with Tony."

"Oh god, you're right!" He tossed his head back and groaned. "I'm so not getting any sleep…" I just laughed and clapped him on the shoulder before getting up and jogging over to the water.

"Yo, Vic, what did you say to Jesse?" Gabe asked as I kissed Kellin.

"I told him about how his room in between mine and Mike's." He laughed heartily.

"Well it sucks to be him." He clutched his side, trying to catch his breath.

"Gabe, aren't you rooming with Jesse tonight?" Justin called over. Realization hit him.

"Fuuuuck… you're right." He looked to Justin. "Justin, switch with me please!"

"No way bro. You're on your own." We all laughed as Gabe groaned.

True to his word, Kellin pretty much dragged me straight to our bedroom. He didn't even wait for the bus to be put into park before we were out the door. Luckily, I had showered on the bus before our meet and greet and didn't have to worry about it now.

As soon as our door was closed, he threw me up against the wall and attached his lips to mine. I could tell from his kiss, he was impatient and angry. He nipped at my bottom lip before he slid his tongue between my lips and battled for dominance. I grabbed his hips and pulled his body as close to mine as I could muster. He groaned into my mouth and I backed him up towards the bed.

We toppled over onto it, Kellin's small frame fitting below mine perfectly as always. I broke away from his lips and moved to his neck, nipping and sucking a trail down to his collar bone. I lingered there for a moment, marking his skin and enjoying the sounds that were coming from his mouth. I moved back and peeled my shirt off and then did the same to his, tossing both to some corner of the room. He bucked his hips up, angling them so that he could roll us over and straddle my hips.

He reached down to the hem of my jeans, undoing my belt, and gave me a sly grin. I knew what he was going to do, but the idea excited me, so I let him. After he secured my hands to the headboard, he crawled his way down my body and stopped again at the hem of my jeans. He blew a kiss before proceeding to use his teeth to undo the button and zipper. I let a groan rumble through my throat. This boy was going to be the death of me one day.

In one swift movement, my jeans were discarded on the floor, my boxer briefs following right after. His eyes met mine and I could feel myself twitch in anticipation. His eyes were clouded and dark with lust as he licked a stripe up the underside of my length. A gasp escaped my lips as he swirled his tongue around the head and slid me into the warm cavity of his mouth. My hands strained against my belt as I longed to have my hands in his hair.

He teased me for a few minutes, lightly dragging his teeth along the underside and dipping his tongue into the slit of my head. I was panting and groaning, trying desperately not to buck up and cause him to choke. He moved one hand so that his fingers were in front of my lips. I got the hint and let him slide them in and thoroughly coated them in saliva. He released me from his mouth and crawled back up my body, slipping his fingers out of my mouth and replacing them with his tongue instead.

He kissed my passionately as he ground his clothed body against my bare one. The friction was delicious and slightly painful which only fueled the fire that was burning in me. I broke the kiss, gasping for breath and noticed that he had undone his jeans and moved his hand down and was stretching himself. I almost came then and there, the sight being both beautiful and completely erotic.

"Kellin." My voice held every trace of desperation that he knew was there. The little minx winked at me before he stood and shimmied the rest of his clothing from his body. He moved so that he was staddling me again, lining my length up at his entrance. As he sank down, a low moan ripped through the both of us. He remained still for a moment, adjusting. After a few seconds, he began to move, slowly building a pace. I strained against the bindings again, wanting desperately to touch him.

"Do you want those off?" His voice was full of amusement.

"Ye-es." I stuttered as he moved at a new angle. He leaned forward and breathed into my ear.

"Too bad." His pace began to change and he slowed down, drawing out his movements. I groaned at the teasing. I was all for prolonging the sex, but this was almost torturous. He began to grind his hips downward and rotate them in a circle.

"Babe, pleeease." I whined. "Let my hands loose." He chuckled and slowed his movements so he could lean over and undo the belt. Once my hands were free from the restraints, I grabbed his hips and rolled us over. I pulled his hips up and thrusted sharply.

"Ah!" A cry of pleasure wrenched its way from his lips.

"You," I thrust again. "are such," and again, "a tease." Each thrust of my hips was accentuated with a high pitched cry from Kellin.

"Vi-ic." His voice broke as we moved our bodies together. "Touch me."

"What was that?" I leaned over and whispered into his ear. He grabbed my face, forcing a fierce kiss to my lips and glared up into my eyes.

"Touch. Me." His voice was demanding.

"As you wish." I reached my hand between our bodies and matched my rhythm. His cries increased in volume as my thrusts began to lose their consistency. It wasn't long before he cried out, releasing onto my hand and our stomachs. The rhythmic constriction of his walls sent me over and I came, collapsing on top of him. We both lay there in our dazed like states for a few minutes before I rolled over and pulled him against me.

He fell asleep almost instantly and I knew I wouldn't be far behind. Just as I was about to close my eyes, my phone vibrated on the table next to me. I picked it up and opened the message.

*I'm never going to sleep again… -Jesse* I chuckled before putting my phone down and going to sleep.

**A/N: So here's the smut I have neglected to write until now. I felt that it was needed after all of the tension. You guys agree right? Of course you do.**


	13. The Truth Revealed

The next morning was interesting to say the least. Jesse and Gabe looked terrible. My guess is that they got absolutely no sleep and I almost felt bad. The nine of us were all eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant and discussing the show that was the next night. Kellin seemed to be a lot more upbeat and happy since yesterday.

"No guys, seriously, it was so horrible. You have no idea the sounds we heard last night." Gabe complained to Justin dramatically. "I mean, have you… you know what never mind."

"What's wrong Gabe?" Tony teased. "Was I a little too loud for you?"

"A little?" Jesse scoffed. "Tony, it was almost as if you wanted us to hear everything." A smirk formed across Mike's face.

"You bastard!" Gabe yelled. "You so did that on purpose!" The rest of us laughed with the exception of Jesse, who laid his head on the table in defeat.

"Hey, don't act like it was just us." Mike defended. "I'm sure Kellin made his fair share of noise."

"Can we please not talk about my best friend and his sex life?" Jesse's muffled voice pleaded.

"Besides Mike, he was with your brother." Justin decided to come to his band mate's aid. "Do you really want to know their war stories?"

"Good point." Mike agreed, taking a bite of his food.

"You guys are terrible." Jaime chuckled.

"Seriously." Added Jack. Those two and Justin were the lucky ones who got to room on the other side of the hallway. None of them were able to hear anything. Thankfully, we switched topics and ended up hanging out for a little while, before splitting up for the day.

"Kellin we need to talk." I closed the door to our hotel room and turned to him. He had a weird expression on his face.

"You're not dumping me right?" His tone was angry.

"No, of course not!" I raised my hands defensively. "We just need to talk about what happened to you."

"Vic, I can't-"

"No, Kellin, please listen." I moved him into a sitting position on the bed and sat beside him. "You haven't been the same since Mexico."

"What do you mean?" He argued. "I'm the same person." I sighed at his words.

"But you're not." I took his hands in mine and stared into his dull, blue eyes. This is what I meant. His eyes had lost their illustrious shine that I had fallen so deeply in love with. "Babe when's the last time you hung out with the guys? Or talked to Jesse?"

"Yesterday."

"Without me?" He opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again a moment later. Sighing dejectedly, he put his head in his head.

"You're right." He returned his gaze to mine. "I'm just scared."

"Kellin, they're your best friends and don't forget how far they'd go for you. I'm sure that they're just as worried about you as I am, if not more so."

"What if I put you guys in danger or something?" His breathing picked up in pace. "What if he comes after me? What if-"

"Kellin, breathe." I pulled him against me. "Breathe babe, it'll be okay."

"H-how do you k-know."

"Just trust me, okay?" I felt him nod against my chest and his breathing returned to normal.

Kellin and I joined the others after he had calmed down enough. I was thankful that we had another day off today, making this the perfect opportunity to have this type of talk.

Kellin was really nervous and was shaking slightly as he talked. He told us everything. His kidnappers were apparently new to the job and had openly discussed classified plans in front of him. Carlos, their leader, planned for Kellin to be a runner at first, but soon changed his mind after seeing him in person. Because of his good looks, they used Kellin to seduce the daughter of a wealthy merchant who had loaned his dad money as well.

After he had successfully gotten the information that they wanted, Carlos "gave" Kellin to his daughter as a companion. Her name was Lizeth and she was only seventeen. Luckily, she took a liking to Kellin, and they grew close while he was there. She was the one who offered to let him go once his debt to her father had been repaid and taken care of. She had no interests in Kellin romantically, having fallen for a young man in the village that was just outside her villa.

One day, after weeks of living with Liz, an envelope addressed to her arrived. When she opened it, she found a check and a note. All of the money that Kellin's dad owed in exchange for Kellin's safe return to the states. The note was printed from a printer and there was no signature. Also the envelope lacked a return address so there was absolutely no way of finding the sender. Bewildered, Liz talked to Kellin and the devised a plan. Kellin forged his father's signature and they went to Carlos with the news.

Mr. Montoya was weary to say the least, but agreed that since the debt had been paid in full and then some, Kellin was free to be released from his services. However, Carlos had warned Kellin that this matter with his father was not necessarily over, and there was a slight chance that his service would be required in the future. That day, Liz paid for Kellin's return flight with a promise to keep in touch and that she would talk to her father about the boy from the village. That was the same day he showed up at the signing.

"So wait, then why lie to us about what happened in the first place?" Jesse questioned.

"I didn't want to put you guys in danger." Kellin explained. "I mean, I worked for the cartel for almost six months. I learned a lot of things that I probably shouldn't have."

"So what now?" Mike piped up. "I mean, we can't just let this guy get away with all of this."

"What about those goons who were following us around all this month?" Justin added.

"I can help with that." I responded. Kellin gave me a confused look and I gave him a guilty smile in return before continuing. "They work for Interpol."

"Interpol?" Gabe and Tony questioned at the same time. Gabe continued. "What do they want?"

"Montoya." Jesse answered, rolling his eyes at Gabe who glared at him.

"You knew too!" Kellin was upset again. "Since when?"

"Uh, day before yesterday." I admitted. Kellin glared at me. "Hey! Hold on, I needed to tell you at the right time. I had no idea what to do about this whole thing." His expression softened a little and he sighed.

"Soooo, what do we do?" Mike repeated.

"I don't know." I sighed. "We need to really think this through before we decide on anything. Agreed?" Everyone nodded. "Alright then."

Kellin fell asleep early tonight and I decided to go chill in the hot tub and relax a little. I was surprised by how well the talk had gone earlier with Kellin had gone. I know it was stressful to have to hold all of that inside for as long as he did. I let myself sink below the water's surface and drown out the noise of the city. It wasn't long before I felt the water shift and I opened my eyes, seeing Jesse sitting across from me. Not sure why, but I suddenly felt very nervous.

"What's up Jess?" I asked as I sat up and leaned back against the edge of the tub.

"We need to talk." The smile fell from my face.

"A-bout?" My voice shook a little.

"Kellin's dad." He replied and I heaved a sigh of relief.

"My god Jesse! Don't do that!"

"Do what?"

"Scare me!" I let out a nervous laugh. "I thought you were going to tell me to break it off with Kellin or something."

"Oh god no!" Jesse laughed. "Dude, Kellin may be half my size but you know how scary he can get when he's mad."

"Oh yeah. He laid out the running back of our football team senior year. One hit."

"I believe it." Jesse nodded in agreement then leaned forward with a serious look on his face. "Any way, about Kellin's dad… I know where he is…"

**A/N: Mwahahaha cliff hanger! I love you guys XD**


	14. Ideas

"What do you mean you know where he is?!" I practically yelled at Jesse. I was staring at him in disbelief. Jess hung his head for a moment before taking a deep breath. "How long have you known this?"

"He sent me a letter a few months ago, while Kellin was still gone."

"Why are you just saying something now?" I was slightly pissed off by this point. "Having that kind of information might have made me feel a bit better, dude. Then I could have gone after the bastard myself."

"Because things have changed." I gave him a confused look. "Kellin's dad has an account set up for us in Switzerland."

"Us? Us as in?"

"All of us. Both bands, all nine of us. He has it set up to be divided evenly among us in six months."

"Why would he do that?" Jesse shrugged.

"I guess it's his way of making up for everything."

"How much?" I questioned.

"He didn't say exactly, but it's over 200 grand." I ran my hand through my hair.

"And he's just giving this to us?" Jesse nodded. "So where is he?"

"Spain." Jesse scratched the back of his head. "He said that we were welcomed to come see him, and he wants to apologize to Kellin face to face."

"So wait." I put my hand up to stop Jesse. "If Kellin's dad is giving us all of the money that he borrowed from Montoya, they who paid for Kellin to be released?"

"See this is where I got confused." He agreed. "I have no idea. I was under the impression Kellin worked it off until today, remember?" I sighed.

"Good point." Kellin didn't even know who paid off his debt. This was beginning to get way more complex than I could have imagined.

"So should we contact Interpol?" Jesse's voice brought me back to reality.

"I don't know Jess. I don't want to put Kellin into more danger or put the bands at risk."

"We have to do something." Jesse had a valid point. Something had to be done about this whole situation. Then an idea hit me.

"We could kill Kellin's dad."

"WHAT?!" Jesse practically screamed.

"Not literally dude." I quickly corrected. "Kinda like witness protection, only we don't go through the government to do it." Thank you every action movie I ever watched as a kid.

"And how, pray tell, do you propose we do that?" His voice was sarcastic.

"Liz." I smiled as I jumped from the hot tub. Jesse called after me, but I was already rounding the corner and heading back to my room. If I was right and everything worked out as planned, this would be perfect. Interpol would get there man, Kellin's dad, the bastard that he was, would be free, and we could live out our dreams as planned. How could this go wrong?... many ways actually, but I pushed those aside for now as I entered my room and began to go over my plan.

I woke Kellin early the next morning. I had barely slept, having stayed up half the night planning out this whole idea. Groggy and irritated, Kellin listened while I explained what Jesse and I had talked about the night before. His irritation grew when he found that Jesse had gotten a letter from his father and his control snapped when I brought up my idea.

"You want to do what?!" He exclaimed, standing from his previous position of sitting on the bed.

"Babe, calm down." I held my hands up defensively as he stepped towards me.

"Calm down?" He scoffed. "You just suggested we kill my dad. I mean, sure I hate the man, but murder, Vic? Really?"

"Not literally Kellin, figuratively." I tried explaining as he had me backed against the wall. I really was not expecting him to get this angry, but considering I woke him up for this, I wasn't that surprised.

"How?" He questioned, stepping to close the remaining distance between us, his nose just centimeters from mine. "How do you figuratively kill off someone?"

"We can use Lizeth's connections and resources to find someone who can make him disappear." Kellin seemed to calm down a little and he leaned his head against my shoulder.

"I don't know, Vic." He mumbled. "Do you really think that's a good idea, getting Liz involved?"

"We don't really have many other options at this point, love." He sighed in defeat.

"Alright, but we have to finish this tour first and find my dad."

"That shouldn't be too hard." He eyed me suspiciously and I just smiled. "Come on, let's eat and get ready for the show tonight." He nodded. "Besides, I think you and Jesse need to talk." He reluctantly got up and followed behind me.

After breakfast, Kellin and Jesse separated from the rest of us and went for a walk.

Jesse and Kellin had been gone for a few hours and it was almost call time. Justin had called both of them only to find their cell phones in the front lounge of the bus. Jason pitched a fit, complaining about that violating rule number something or other. Truthfully, none of us really paid him much attention when he was complaining.

Five minutes before call time, Jesse and Kellin walked into the dressing room. A bruise was beginning to form on Jesse's forearm, no doubt a result of Kellin's fist. Other than that, they seemed fine. They were laughing about something when they walked in.

"Where have you two been?" Jason's interrogating voice called from across the room.

"Walking." Jesse replied in a bored tone, not even looking up at our manager.

"For three hours?" Mike chuckled.

"We stopped for lunch." Kellin grinned as he walked over and pecked me lightly. Mike just nodded his head.

"Well wherever you guys were, hurry up and get ready." Jason made his way over towards the door. "Sirens, you guys hit the stage in ten minutes. Don't be late." And with that he closed the door and was gone.

"Remind me why we have the same tour manager again?" Kellin asked, moving to change his clothes.

"Because you guys knew him already." I chuckled.

"Right." He nodded, pulling a new shirt over his head. "Anyway, Jesse and I have something that we need to tell you guys after the set tonight." The whole room nodded. Something told me that whatever Kellin and Jesse were going to tell us was big and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit curious. Good thing our shows weren't too long.

**A/N: So yeah...Things might get a little out of hand in Europe but we'll see ;)**

**Leave me comments because you love me and I love you!**


	15. Lizeth

After the show, we all headed straight for the bus. All nine of us went into the back lounge and settled in as the driver got ready to leave. All eyes were on Kellin and Jesse as we began to move.

"So, spill." Jack began.

"Alright," Kellin took a deep breath. "So on our walk, Jesse and I stopped at this random café and I got a phone call from Liz. Jesse got this hair brain idea and we asked Liz to help us."

"Apparently her boyfriend knows someone who might be able to help us with getting Kellin's dad off of the radar. She's willing to meet with us after our tour is over, so that gives us two weeks." Jesse added.

"Am I the only one who thinks it's weird that this girl wants to help us take down her dad?" Tony questioned.

"If you knew the relationship they had, you wouldn't be that surprised." Kellin muttered.

"So two weeks and then it's really happening." I managed to speak. Kellin nodded. "Shouldn't be too bad."

The last two weeks of tour past quicker than any of us could've expected. Liz had contacted us, saying that her jet would arrive the day of our return. Truth be told, we were all surprised that she was as willing to help as she was, considering it meant taking down her father. Kellin says that she doesn't care but I know that can't be true.

Arriving back in San Diego was nice for the first few hours. However, as we prepared for Liz to arrive, my stomach started to knot. I had no idea what to expect from her.

The time finally came when there was a knock at our door. Cautiously, I walked over and answered it. I was met with the sight of a tall, tan female with dark hair and light brown eyes. She was wearing a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and...one of our band shirts?

"You must be Vic." She extended her hand in greeting.

"Nice to meet you, Lizeth." I shook as I let her step past me. She immediately engulfed Kellin in a hug. Then I noticed someone else at the door.

"Hola, I'm Cesar, but please call me CJ." A male, about Mikes height smiled.

"Vic." I replied. "Come on in." He stepped past me and I closed the door.

"So, introductions." Kellin began. "This is Mike, Tony, Jaime, Jesse, Gabe, Justin, and Jack." Everyone stood and they took the time to shake hands and say hello.

"So you're all in for this journey?" CJ questioned as he sat down in a chair, Liz sitting in his lap.

"Well anywhere my brother goes then I go and I can say the same for Kellin." Mike spoke first.

"We wouldn't even consider letting them go alone." Justin agreed.

"That's good to hear." Liz chuckled. "We're going to need all the help we can get. This isn't going to be an easy thing to do."

"She's right." CJ added. "We're meeting an old buddy of mine in London who will be joining us."

"Is it safe to assume he's the techy?" Jaime questioned. CJ nodded.

"Dan is one if the best computer techs I've had the pleasure of knowing. " CJ smiled.

"No offense, but how does someone from a small village in Mexico know a computer hacker?" Gabe piped up. CJ just chuckled lightly.

"Cesar's not just some farm boy. " Liz grinned. "He's borderline genius and has studied all over the world."

"How old are you anyway?" I finally voice the question that needed to be asked.

"21."

"Alrighty then." I laughed. "So let's get down to business."

We spent the next few hours going over any ideas that came to mind. It was interesting to hear everyone's opinion on how we should approach Kellin's dad. I'm pretty sure that we spent a good amount of the time bitching about how we felt. However at the end of the night, we had things sorted out.

Kellin and I headed upstairs to pack our things. He was unusually quiet and it made the air heavy. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I began kissing his neck lightly and he leaned back against me, humming in satisfaction. He leaned his neck to one side allowing me to mark his skin. I turned him around to face me and kissed his jaw, making my way to his lips.

The kiss started slowly, my lips moving against his. He pressed back and poked his tongue out, gliding it over my bottom lip. I opened, allowing his tongue to move against mine. I had missed this connection. This was the way I wanted things to be. No words. No formalities. Just love.

We shuffled over towards the bed and he sat down on the edge. He moved back so that I could straddle his waist and connect our lips. He began to run his hands up my back, lifting my shirt over my head and moving to kiss my collarbone. I threaded my fingers through his hair, groaning into his ear as he nibbled.

He moved again to my lips and I began to tug at the hem of his shirt. I let my thumb rub over his hip bone, scraping my short nails against his skin. He moaned against my lips and reached down to pull off his shirt. He fell back against the bed and tugged me down with him. Our make out session was becoming more and more heated as the time past. The slow kisses became needy and our bodies began to move against each other rhythmically.

"Want you." Kellin muttered against my neck. "It's been too long." With that, I agreed completely. It had been weeks since the last time we were alone long enough to be together like this. Kellin reached down and began to undo my jeans, pushing them down over my hips. His hand ran across my ass before he squeezed it gently. I groaned out and rolled my hips against his, marveling in the delicious sound that it caused to come from him.

"Clothes. Off." I instructed as I stood, pushing the remaining clothing I had to the floor. He quickly rid himself of his jeans and boxer briefs and was laid out on the bed, beckoning me to come back. I climbed back on top of him, connecting our lips and letting myself bask in the skin on skin contact. I reached between our bodies and gripped him lightly, causing him to moan and arch off of the bed.

"No…" His voice was breathy. "No foreplay." I chuckled and leaned forward to kiss him while I reached into the bedside table to grab the bottle of lube that we kept there. I popped the cap and lathered myself.

"Do you want me to-"

"No." His eyes locked with mine. "I want you and only you tonight." He leaned forward and kissed me lightly. "I love you."

"I love you too." I aligned myself and pushed in slowly. Kellin's breath hitched in his throat and I slowed a little as he adjusted. Once all the way in, we simultaneously let out low groans. He wrapped his legs around my waist and pulled me closer. I took this as my cue to move, and pulled out slowly before pushing back in.

Shallow thrusts soon got deeper and our moans got louder. (Thankfully, we soundproofed our room long ago.) Kellin's hips were meeting me thrust for thrust and his eyes were locked with mine. There was this intensity in them that I couldn't seem to look away from. I angled differently and connected with his prostate. He let out a surprised cry and threw his head back.

"Oh god, do it again." He pleaded and who was I to deny him? I repeatedly hit that spot, enjoying the different cries that he let out depending on how hard I thrust. "Cl-close." He stuttered. I went to reach for him, but he gripped my hand, intertwining our fingers. I got the hint and leaned forward, connecting our lips. One perfectly angled thrust later and Kellin moaned into our kiss, spilling over our stomachs. It was too much and I followed right behind him, collapsing on top of him. He reached up and brushed my bangs from my forehead, kissing it lightly.

"That," He began. "That was amazing." I chuckled breathily as I moved so that I was holding him from behind. I kissed his shoulder.

"It truly was." I pulled the covers over our sweaty forms, not caring enough to clean up tonight. I needed to wash our sheets anyway, so why not just wait? Besides, we were leaving in a few days anyway.

**A/N: So this was supposed to be up over the weekend, but I lost all of my notes for it and had to write it from scratch again. Then my sister got sick and I had to babysit...so I decided that you get smut for being so patient. Yay! I love you guys.**


	16. Bridges

If you ask anyone what had become my least favorite thing to do ever was, they would tell you it was flying. How I had become so afraid of it in such a short time, I will never know. But, I'm terrified of flight and being thousands of feet above ground. Yet here I am on a jet, flying over the Atlantic, headed straight for London. They had given Kellin and I our own bunk space and I think I've moved a total of two times, and one of those wasn't by choice.

Oh no, we hit some turbulence and I fell out of the bed. Kellin, being the great boyfriend that he is, laughed as he pulled me back into our bunk and moved so that I was now on the inside.

"I'll be okay, Vic." He whispered in my ear. "We only have a few more hours to go." I groaned miserably in response, causing him to chuckle.

"It's not funny." I mumbled. He kissed the back of my neck and tightened his hold on me.

"I'm sorry." I could feel the grin against my skin. "Try to get some more sleep. It's getting pretty late." I nodded and closed my eyes, willing myself to try and get some sleep.

Upon arriving at the London airport, Lizeth's pilot assured us that he would remain there until we needed him again. We thanked him and hailed a taxi to our hotel. We checked into the penthouse suite and gathered in the living area.

"Glad to see that you and Mike have returned to your normal colors." Tony joked.

"Yeah, how is it that now both Fuentes brothers have a fear of flying?" Jesse added. I just shrugged in response.

"At least Vic doesn't get sick." Tony patted Mike's head, which was in his lap. He was still looking a little queasy.

"You boys okay?" Liz joined us in the living room, CJ following behind her.

"Peachy." I answered. She just smiled knowingly.

"So, Dan should be here in the morning." CJ announced.

"Then what?" Gabe asked.

"He creates the new information then we head to Spain." Liz answered.

"And how long should that take?" Kellin asked next. For this, Liz turned to CJ.

"About two days."

"Sounds like we've got a mini holiday." Jesse stood stretching. "Let's get some sleep and continue this in the morning." There was a collective agreement among the group and we headed to our rooms. As I got up to leave, CJ stopped me.

"Hey, Vic, can I talk to you?" I gave him a puzzled look.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Dan can only delay Interpol from realizing that you and Kellin are here."

"What do you mean?" Now I was really confused.

"He said that your passports flagged as soon as we left the states." Panic crossed through my body. "But I wouldn't worry about it too much." He assured. "They just want Liz's father, but they'll use whatever necessary to get him. I'll do what I can to help keep you guys out of it."

"Thanks CJ." I replied. "I appreciate it." He nodded before walking away. I made my way to where my room was, joining Kellin.

"Everything okay, babe?" He asked.

"Yeah 's fine." I lied as I changed. I didn't want Kellin to worry about this just yet. No one else needed to know. However, a guilty feeling washed over me as Kellin snuggled against my chest and kissed me lightly. I spent a long time staring out of the window, listening to the sounds of the city and watching Kellin sleep before I finally drifted off.

Bleak darkness, swift winds, and distant howling surrounded me. My body felt heave and my chest ached; the ability to breathe was becoming increasingly difficult. My mind screamed for me to wake up, that this was nothing but another nightmare, but I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. A voice suddenly spoke into the blackness.

"You're going to fail him." The voice was male, but not one that I recognized.

"He's going to leave you." This time it was a female. Suddenly, a light illuminated a lone figure. It took me a moment, but I realized that it was Kellin's father.

"How could you fail him, Victor?" His eyes were alight with malice and anger. "My only child and I entrusted him to you."

"You're the one who failed him!" I yelled back. "You abused and abandoned him and now look what you've done!" Anger flashed through his features.

"You won't be able to save him from this." He growled. "Mark my words…"

I shot up in bed. My breathing was heavy and there was a light layer of sweat coating my body. My movements must have woken Kellin, because he sat up and was looking at me strangely. Without even speaking, he pulled me against his frame and my body shook slightly against him.

"Vic, breathe." Kellin cooed. "You're okay." He rubbed my back lightly as my breathing slowed and I stopped shaking.

"What time is it?" My voice was a little rough from being tired.

"Five thirty." He replied. "Do you want to talk about it?" I shook my head no and crawled out of bed.

"I'm going to take a shower."

"Oh…okay." He gave a half hearted smile and I stopped at the door.

"That's your cue to join me." His face lit up as he jumped from bed and followed behind me.

Once everyone was up and dressed, CJ called Dan and invited him over. He was this tall, tan guy with black hair and a wicked sense of humor. He was pretty laid back and even spent some time talking geek with Mike. In short, I liked him.

He asked us some questions about Kellin's dad and about us. After he got a sufficient amount of information, he informed us that he would remain there and work on his project. We thanked him and Liz suggested that the guys and I go and explore a little while they worked.

London is simply amazing. We went around the city, while Dan, Liz, and CJ did their thing, and this alone was worth the trip. We had just gone on the London Eye and were now bungee jumping. Well Kellin and I weren't. Having both nearly jumped off bridges prior in life, we decided to just sit this one out and watch. Mike was next in line, Jesse, Gabe, and Jack having already gone.

"Mikey, are you sure this is a good idea?" I questioned as I glanced over the railing, which only came to my waist I might add. There was a large, swift flowing river below.

"No." He replied nonchalantly. "But I'm going to do it anyway." He walked over to Blake, the owner, to get his equipment fitted. As he was getting ready, Kellin nudged my arm.

"Babe, those guys are staring at us." He pointed to a black car parked next to our van. I squinted to try and get a better look, but they decided to get out of the car instead. It was Agent Latery and his partner who followed us before.

"Kellin, stay next to me." He glanced between them and me and nodded, moving to stand behind me. The guys seemed to notice my change in demeanor and flanked my sides.

However, as the agents approached, a black SUV pulled up and five guys with guns jumped out. One pointed to Kellin, yelling something in Spanish that I didn't catch. One of his henchmen shot at Agent Kent, getting him in the leg as he and Latery ducked behind a large portion of concrete. I grabbed Kellin and the guys scattered.

As we tried to run to the van, another one of the guys cut us off. I pushed Kellin back, screaming for him to run and got ready to face my opponent. I could hear gunshots and turned to make sure that Kellin was still okay. Latery had shot one of the henchmen and gotten Gabe, Tony, and Justin into the van safely. The guy in front of me moved forward and swung at me. I ducked and went to punch him. He moved swiftly, kicking my leg and throwing the butt of his gun into my stomach. I dropped to the ground as he made his way past me.

"No, get away from him!" I heard Jesse's voice scream. A moment later, he dropped to the ground, clutching his now bleeding nose. Another gunshot. I tried getting to my feet, seeing Kellin backed against the railing, but my leg wasn't having it. He looked around frantically as another henchman came bounding towards him. As the guy got closer, Latery shot him in the leg and he toppled forward, knocking into Kellin. The force caused him to fly backwards and over the ledge, dangling by his hands.

"VIC!" He screamed desperately. I struggled to my feet, fighting the pain, and noticed Mike fighting a guy. He was closer.

"Mikey!" He landed one final punch and turned towards me. "Kellin!" I screamed, pointing. He glanced to the railing and sprinted towards it.

"Kellin, hang on! I'm almost there!" Mike yelled as he drew closer. I was finally on my feet and running in the same direction, praying that one of us got there in time.

"I'm slipping!" I could see his hands sliding across the smooth metal. Mike was only feet from him and just as he was about to reach out, Kellin lost his grip, screaming as he fell.

"NOOOO!"

**A/N: So…..yeah. Hi guys**


	17. Waiting

My scream ripped through the air as I watched helplessly. Mike, not even missing a beat, leapt over the ledge after him just as I got to the railing.

"Mike!" Tony yelled as he appeared at my side, watching horrified as our boyfriends fell. I could hear Kellin's screams and Mike trying to yell something to him. Mike grabbed him around the waist seconds before the hit the water. The rest of the guys had made it over, everyone watching for them. The hadn't surfaced yet and I dropped to my knees. My brother and Kellin were both gone. Anger surged through me and I made my way over to where the leader was still laying, holding his bleeding leg.

"Who sent you?!" I gripped his shirt and held him eye level. He glanced back at me and remained silent. "Quien te envió?! Answer me!" I threw him to the ground when he, again, refused to talk. I felt a hand on my shoulder, turning to see Tony standing there with misty eyes. I reached up and placed my hand over his as my angry tears began to fall.

"Vic! Tony!" Jaime yelled. "Come quick!" We rushed over. "Look!" He pointed out towards the river bank a few hundred feet down river. There was Mike, clutching Kellin with one arm and holding onto a fallen tree with the other. I turned to Agent Latery, who was beside me.

"What's the fastest way down?" I demanded. He looked back blankly. Then Blake came out of nowhere.

"You can base jump." He suggested. "I have a few parachute and gear in my RV."

"Let's get moving then. Latery, make sure your partner is okay and then escort the guys safely to our hotel. Call an ambulance and the fire department here, which Interpol with be paying for by the way, and then you and I will have a long talk about this." I barked. He just gave me and irritated look and then nodded. I marched over to Blake's RV and took the gear that he gave me.

"Vic, are you sure you want to jump?" Jaime came up behind me. "I mean, you have a fear of heights remember?"

I turned to look at him, determination surging through my mind. "Jaime, what other choice do I have? Not only is Kellin down there, but so is Mike. That's my baby brother and I am not about to lose him." He nodded his head and then stepped forward, engulfing my in a hug.

"Just be careful." He pulled back and gave me a smile before walking over to the van. Tony came up next. I was half expecting a hug, but he reached behind me and grabbed the other set of gear that Blake had taken out.

"You didn't think that I would just sit in the hotel and wait did you?" He smirked.

"Not in a million years." I replied. We waited for all of the guys to be in the van and waved as they drove off. They all had worried looks on their faces, and who could blame them?

"You guys ready?" Blake asked.

"More than ready." I replied.

So you remember that comment about if you asked my friends what I was most afraid of? Yeah, I've officially changed that. Standing at the edge of that bridge, listening to Blake explain what to do before we jumped, was terrifying. He asked us one last time if we were ready, and as we heard approaching sirens, I nodded, and we jumped.

Instantly, the feeling of falling hit my stomach. I fought the urge to be sick and pulled my cord. The parachute released and my body jerked with the change in momentum. I looked around me, seeing that both Tony and Blake had opened theirs as well. I focused on the area with the closest clearing to Mike and Kellin and maneuvered my way there. Bracing for the landing, my feet extended in front of me, I ran a few steps before quickly unhooking my chute.

"Vic!" Mikes voice cried. I ran over to the bank of the river.

"Mike, hold on, I'll be right there." I turned to see that Tony and Blake had landed and Tony was running to me with a rope.

"Here." He wrapped it around my waist and fastened it to the gear I had on. "Now Blake and I will be on this end in case you fall." I nodded and turned back to Mike.

Kellin was unconscious and Mike looked like he was about to lose whatever strength he had left in him. Carefully, I stepped onto the trunk of the tree and shuffled over. The current was strong and swift and I was amazed that Mike was able to have held on this long. When I got close to him, I could see the exhaustion in his features. Then I looked to Kellin and my heart sunk. He had a huge gash on his forehead and his left arm was bruised and bleeding.

"He's breathing, so don't worry." Mike yelled. I just nodded and squatted down. I reached over and hooked my hands under Kellin's arms and hoisted him up onto the tree. As soon as Kellin was free from his grasp, Mike's free arm lunged around a branch, and with what little strength he had, he pulled himself up and collapsed slung over the trunk.

"Mike, are you okay?" My voice was shaking.

"Yeah, I think I might have a broken rib or two, but other than that and some bruising, I should be fine." He gave me a wide grin and then turned towards Tony.

"Babe, are you alright?" Tony yelled. Mike gave a thumbs up and relief washed over Tony's features. We heard the roar of a helicopter getting closer to us. I looked up to see one of the ones that you would see on those extreme disaster TV shows.

"Stay where you are. We're coming down to get you." A voice announced over the intercom. A moment later, a figure began descending towards us. He landed right between Mike and myself and walked carefully towards me.

"Jerry, we need you to lower the gurney." He spoke into a walkie. "Are you alright, sir?" He asked me.

"I'm fine. This one and the guy over there are the ones who fell." I informed him. He knelt beside me and reached over to check Kellin's pulse.

"Alright, we'll get him up first and then your other friend-"

"Brother." I corrected. "And this is my boyfriend, I'm going where ever they do." There was a clear statement in my voice: I would not negotiate.

"And those two?" He motioned to Tony and Blake.

"Brother's boyfriend and a good friend of mine." He nodded.

"Chris, the gurney is on its way down." A voice spoke from the walkie.

"Alright." He looked up and waited for the gurney to be within reach and settled it between a branch and the trunk. "Now help me lift him." I moved to the other side of Kellin carefully and helped lift him onto the gurney and strapped him in. Chris pulled twice on the cable and then Kellin was being lifted up.

Once everyone was in the helicopter, they flew us to the nearest hospital. Blake had been informed that someone from the Scotland Yard was going to drive his RV to the hospital for him. He thanked them and relaxed into his seat beside me.

"Hey, Blake," I began and he faced me. "I can't thank you enough for helping us."

"It's no problem, mate." He placed a hand on my shoulder. "I can tell how much they mean to you and I was happy to help." I glanced over to where Tony and Mike were sitting together and smiled.

"You have no idea." I smiled.

We arrived at the hospital and they rushed Kellin and Mike inside. Blake, Tony and I followed behind, none of us willing to leave. We got to the entrance and a nurse jumped up from her desk and rushed over. She questioned about what happened and Chris gave a general overview from his report. She nodded and rushed over to the phone to make a page.

"Doctor Lester to ER room 4." Her voice called over the PA system. We were let through some double door and they wheeled Kellin into one of the rooms. A moment later the doctor arrived. He was tall and pale with black hair and bright blue eyes. Also, he had a pleasant demeanor for being a doctor.

"What happened?" He asked. Chris again gave the rundown from his report. "Alright, get him to the x-ray room stat." Chris nodded and wheeled Kellin out. I went to follow, but the doctor stopped me.

"Vic, it's okay." I gave him a confused look.

"Um, excuse me?"

"Dan is my flat mate. I'm Phil." He replied. "He told me all about you guys."

"Oh… okay." I turned to Tony who shrugged. "So is Kellin going to be okay?"

"We'll get him x-rayed and then go from there." He replied. "Now how about you, Mike?"

"I might need some x-rays and some bandages, but I should be fine."

"Alright, well let's get some paperwork filled out and we'll see what happens." He placed a hand on my shoulder reassuringly, but I couldn't shake the anxiety in my stomach. Waiting was also on the list of my least favorite things to do.

**A/N: Apparently no one remembers me saying that I would never kill off Kellin or Vic lol**

**So, thoughts? Questions? Angry things that shoudln't be said, but I'd love to hear anyway?**


	18. Feels Like We're Forgetting Something

Kellin and Mike are probably the two luckiest people I know. Both fell over three hundred feet into a river and came out with minimal injuries. Mike had a concussion, three bruised ribs, and some cuts here and there. Kellin also had a concussion, a deep gash on his left arm that needed stitches, and some bruising. Dr. Lester said both were lucky to even be alive.

I smiled at the thought as I sat between Mike's and Kellin's beds. They had given Mike some morphine so he was out cold. Kellin still hadn't woken up, Phil said it was expected, and Tony was sleeping in a chair on the other side of Mike. I sighed and looked up as I heard someone entering the room. It was Blake.

"Hey." He spoke softly.

"Hey." I replied, smiling up at him.

"I wanted to say goodbye before taking off." He leaned against the door frame and glanced at both Kellin and Mike. "I'm glad they're both okay."

"Me too." I stood up and reached out for his hand. "I can't thank you enough for your help, Blake."

"No need to worry, mate." He shook my hand and turned to leave. "Hit me up the next time you chaps are in London, yeah?"

"For sure." He smiled one last time before departing. I settled back into my chair and pulled my phone from my pocket. I had a few text messages from Jesse asking about the guys. I updated him and asked them to stay safe. Agent Latery had sent over someone to check in on the guys and apparently were reluctant to leave. Jaime called and explained that it probably had something to do with Liz and CJ being there. Dan, luckily, had hidden away in the closet of mine and Kellin's room for the duration of the visit.

Kellin finally woke about an hour after Blake had left. He was slightly confused and freaked out when he first opened his eyes, but calmed as soon as he realized that I was right beside him. I explained everything that had happened after he fell and he almost started to cry when he looked over at Mike, who, of course, said that it was no problem. Phil came in a few minutes later to check on them and handed me a letter before leaving again.

"What's that?" Tony asked as he moved closer to me, sitting on the edge of Mike's bed.

"A letter from Interpol." I opened it and read through it quickly. "We're being summoned to undergo investigation."

"Oh," Mike began. "So, in other words, we're not going."

"Nope." I agreed.

"Guys, is that really a good idea?" Kellin's voice was extremely concerned. I reached over and grabbed his hand, bringing it to my lips so I could kiss his knuckles.

"Babe, it's either we run, or they get your dad to get to Montoya, who by the way, is also after your dad still." His face fell slightly. "I know it's not much of a choice, Kellin, but we're kind of out of options at this point."

"No, you're right." He sighed. "So when do we get to leave? We can't stay here too much longer before they come to us."

"Now, if you'd like, mate." Phil came back inside, followed by CJ and Jesse, who went straight to Kellin's bedside and hugged him.

"Dan's finished up already." Jesse announced after releasing Kellin.

"So you guys just have to fill out this paperwork and I'll file it tomorrow to give you some extra time." Phil gave me a kind smile.

"What are we waiting for then?" Mike went to stand, falling over immediately into Tony's side.

"Wheelchairs, amigo." CJ laughed.

I filled out all the necessary paperwork as Phil led us to the helicopter pad. Liz was there waiting for us, the others having been sent to the airport already. We got Kellin and Mike loaded up and said our goodbyes to Phil. I thanked him for everything that he and Dan were doing for us. He just smiled and said to come visit again.

Liz flew us from the hospital to the airport and we borded the jet. The guys were all waiting anxiously for us and were excited when the saw that Mike and Kellin were feeling better than they looked. I noticed that Dan was sitting in one of the seats and I made my way over to him.

"Hey, mate." He greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"Me, I'm fine." I chuckled. "A little tired, but I'll get over it."

"Glad to hear it." He laughed and pulled out a file folder. "So this is all of the new paperwork for Kellin's dad." He handed it over to me and I began to flip through it.

"Damn, you weren't kidding when you said you were good."

"Thank you. So I also wrote up a report on how his dad died and plan to upload it to the Spanish government's files after you guys meet with him." He opened a laptop and showed me some more files. "Now all you have to do is get to him, give him the new information and then upload this code onto the internet." He handed me a flash drive. "That will wipe out all known information about him and it'll be like he never existed."

"So what about the information on Kellin's birth certificate and the marriage information?" I questioned.

"It's gone." He looked over towards Kellin. "It'll be like his father was never there from the beginning." I looked over to see Kellin laughing with Jesse and Justin. A guilty feeling washed over me. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose someone who was a part of my life, no matter how screwed up they were. And then there was the part of telling Kellin's mother.

"Shit…"

"What's wrong mate?"

"Nothing," I stood. "Thanks for the help Dan, but I have to go talk to Kellin about something."

"Uh okay, sure." I handed back his stuff and made my way over. "Hey, babe, can we talk for a minute?" Kellin gave me a confused look, but nodded. I helped him up and we slowly walked towards our bunk area. This was not a conversation I was going to look forward to.

**A/N: Okay so I know that some of you might be confused about what's going on. For this all I ask is that you bear with me and wait for things to unfold. There's a lot of stuff that still needs to be explained and I know this. You guys have to be patient and I promise things will make sense soon. Love you all and thanks for supporting me =)**


	19. Welcome!

Kellin and I spent the majority of the flight to Spain in the back talking. I brought up his mom and he froze. Apparently no one had given a thought to how she would take all of this information. Every time we called home, we wanted to focus of the positive sides of things, so somehow it never came up.

"Vic, she's going to kill me." He whined.

"Babe, it can't be that bad." I tried to reason.

"No, Vic, she's going to go off about how reckless we're being and about how we should have said something to her beforehand."

"We can always use the witness protection bit." He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Kellin, she'll understand."

"This sucks." He looked up at me. "How is it that even when he's not in my life he makes it so difficult?"

"I don't know babe." I sat down next to him and pulled him against me. He looked up and I leaned forward, kissing his nose. "So, we'll call her?"

"I guess." He pulled his phone out and dialed the number. It rang twice before she answered.

"Hi, baby." Her cheerful voice greeted.

"Hi, mom." Kellin replied.

"Do you want me to step outside?" I asked quietly. He shook his head as his mom talked for a moment.

"So, mom, there's something I need to tell you." He paused. "No, no, Vic and I are fine." He rolled his eyes. "Yes mom, I'm sure that we're okay." He paused again. "Do you want to ask him yourself?" He handed me the phone.

"Hello?"

"Vic, are you and Kellin doing okay?" Her question was stern.

"Yes, we're perfectly okay."

"Alright, I believe you. Now what was it you guys needed to tell me?"

"Um…hold on." I handed back the phone to Kellin.

"Mom, I would sit down if I were you… are you sitting?" He rolled his eyes again. "Okay, so please don't freak out… there's been some issues surfacing lately that required some serious fixing." He waited for her to make some sort of acknowledgment. "No, I mean it's to the point where we have to figuratively kill off dad and create a new identity." He rushed out the last part.

"KELLIN QUINN BOSTWICK!" Startled, Kellin dropped the phone to the floor. "What do you mean figuratively?" Kellin quickly retrieved the phone.

"Mom, we don't have another choice. His life depends on it."

"What on earth could possibly require that much tampering?" Her voice was still loud enough to be heard from where I was sitting.

"It's pretty complicated, mom." He ran a hand through his hair again. "But the reason I'm telling you this is because it's going to alter the information on my birth certificate and your marriage license will no longer exists. Neither will your divorce papers."

"So in other words, it will be like erasing every bad memory from our lives." Her voice had softened a little. "I say go for it. That man is no longer the one I had fallen in love with anyway."

"I'm glad you agree, mom." Kellin had a relieved look on his face. "I love you, and I'll come and visit as soon as I'm back from Spain."

"Wait! What?" Kellin hit the end button before starting another conversation he didn't want to have.

"So… that went well." I laughed lightly.

We had joined the others and told them what had happened. Jesse, Jack, Justin and Gabe all got a kick out of it, knowing what Kellin's mom could be like when upset. The others just kind of shook their heads. I spent a little time hanging out with the guys before moving over next to Dan and CJ.

"So once we get there, I'm going to upload the files and then we should be in the clear." Dan explained once I sat down.

"So then we just have to deal with Interpol and we're good?"

"As far as we believe." CJ answered. Something in his voice didn't make me feel very confident.

"That doesn't seem like it will be too hard…" I answered sarcastically. They both nodded. Then the pilot announced that we would be landing shortly and I went back over to Kellin.

When we landed, there was a car waiting for us at the airport. After a few minutes, despite the adamant refusal of the driver, Liz got him to agree to let CJ be our guide. Disgruntled, he handed over the keys and headed towards the entrance of the airport.

We followed the coordinates along the coastline until we reached a turnoff to the beach. That road led to another, and then to yet another before we came across a rather large villa. CJ pulled the car over and we all got out of the car and walked towards the entrance. Kellin knocked on the door and after a few moments, an older woman answered.

"Hola, how can I help you?" She asked in her heavy Spanish accent.

"Hola, we would like to speak to Mr. Bostwick please." I answered. Once she heard the name, her eyes widened slightly and she quickly ushered us inside. Once she had closed and locked the door, she turned back to us and walked ahead.

"Right this way." I gave Kellin a concerned look as he reached over and took my hand in his. We were led through the house and I was surprised by how simplistic it looked. The outside of the house looked so grand and traditional, but on the inside, it looked like any normal house you would see back in the states. It wasn't gaudy or anything and it gave off an inviting aura. We stopped outside of a door and the housekeeper knocked gently. A quiet "come in" came from behind the door and she opened it and stepped inside.

"Senor, your special guests have arrived." We followed in behind her as Kellin's dad turned around. He hadn't changed very much. He lost some weight and had tanned quite a bit, but he was still that same guy that I had laid out almost two years ago.

"Ah! Welcome!" His cheerful greeting pulled me from my thoughts and I felt Kellin tense next to me. I could tell that this was not what he was expecting. "Teresa, you can go for the day. I want to spend some time with my son and his… friends." There was something about the way that he paused that gave me an uneasy feeling and as I glanced at our friends, I could tell that they felt the same way.

You know that feeling you get right after you realize that you did something really stupid? That's exactly how I felt at this moment and as Teresa nodded and closed the study door behind her, I felt like we had just become the victims of a classic thriller. This… this was going to be interesting…

**A/N: Holy freaking crap... ok so confession time: 1 I've had this written for like a week and have been super lazy and then warped happen. (Btw I met Kellin there. It was awesome.) and 2 this was ridiculously hard to actually write.**

**For some unknown reason, my brain has not been cooperating with me on this so I apologize if it's crappy. The next one will be waaaaay way better. I love you guys for sticking with me so far xoxo**


	20. Confessions

The air in the room was thick with the anticipation of the group. I had the feeling that we were all thinking the same thing. What is about to happen? Mr. Bostwick was the only one who truly knew as he motioned for us to take a seat. Everyone settled around his office with the exception of Mike and me who stood behind Kellin and Tony on the couch.

"Now first things first, welcome to my home." He smiled cheerfully, which I found to be slightly out of character. "And Kellin, before this gets too out of hand, there's something I need you to know." He paused and everyone looked between the two, expecting Kellin to say something. I for one, couldn't make out the expression on Mr. Bostwick's face.

"And that would be?" Kellin finally asked as it became apparent that a response was needed. His voice was shaky with nerves and I rested my hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him.

"Kellin… I'm not your father." If possible, the room got quieter and the atmosphere thickened noticeably.

"Uh… excuse me?" Kellin scoffed. "You have to be joking right? Because I can't begin to fathom why someone would pretend to be someone else's parent for nineteen years of their lives? Sixteen of which were like my own personal hell if you don't recall."

"No, Kellin, you misunderstand me." Mr. Bostwick… um… I guess… responded. "After you were abducted this last year, your father came to me and asked me to take his place in this world. My name is James Pacheko. I'm sure you remember me?" He asked hopefully.

"Why would my father come to you for that?" Kellin asked quietly. "What could possibly convince you that this was a good idea? My father is a wanted man by some very powerful people."

"I am aware." James replied. "But… and this is hard for me to say, your father passed away of liver failure shortly after coming to me. As his best friend, how could I refuse him? Plus, you were always like a nephew to me."

Kellin looked like he was thinking really hard about something. It was as if he was racking his brain for answers that he had buried away. Then it seemed as if someone flipped a switch.

"Wait, James as in my dad's golf buddy?"

"We were more than just golf buddies, Kellin. We-"

"It's okay, I don't need to know." Kellin cut him off.

"James, we just want answers." Liz interjected.

"I paid off the debt." He admitted. "Kellin, I know it's hard to believe, but you and your mother meant a great deal to your father." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that statement. Kellin, our friends and I have all witnessed firsthand how his father treated people.

"James, I appreciate what you've done for my friends and I, but forgive me if I disagree with you on that." James just gave an understanding nod. No one could really expect Kellin to just jump on that bandwagon after all this time.

"If I may interrupt." Dan stood up and moved closer to James' desk. "There's still the issue of having an Eddie Bostwick alive and wandering around."

"Oh, I plan on fixing that myself." James smiled. "But let's end this here for tonight. Please stay and rest for a few days. I can assure you that you're safe here." It was then that everyone got to their feet and started exiting the room.

"Vic, can you stay for a moment?" James called out as I was about to leave with Kellin.

"Uh…" Kellin just shrugged and walked out. "Sure." I turned back around and sat across from his desk. Once we were alone, James sighed heavily and relaxed into his desk chair. I could really see him then, the real him underneath the guise that he was wearing. I sat there awkwardly, not knowing what to do or say.

"Vic," I met his eyes. "I know you despised Eddie, but there are some things that you need to know."

"No offense, but you are under exaggerating by a long shot." I leaned forward in the chair slightly. "I've seen things that I can never forgive or forget James. Despise is being nice."

"Be that as it may, Vic, Eddie still felt how he did." James defended. "Now the reason I aske you to stay is pertanate to your's and Kellin's future. So, please, listen carefully."

Ten minutes later, I was leaving James' study and attempting to locate my boyfriend or at least the room we were in. I bumbed into CJ on the way and he told me that he saw Kellin walking into the last door on the left side of the hallway. Not even thinking to knock, or pay attention for that matter, I opened the door and stepped inside.

"Kell-" I stopped dead in my tracks and stared. I will never be able to unsee what was in front of me. Mike was looming over a naked Tony, both were panting and I turned away before this got more awkward than it already was.

"Vic, what the fuck!?" Mike's voice yelled. I felt my face heat up as I retreated back into the hallway, yelling an apology as I shut the door. Then I realized… this was the door on the right…

I walked across the hallway and composed myself a little. I could hear Kellin laughing on the other side of the door and I blushed harder. With my head hanging low, I opened the door, stepped in, and looked up. I wasn't prepared for Kellin to be standing directly in front of me.

"Hey babe." He pushed me back against the door and pressed his lips to mine hungrily.

"Wait Kellin, we need-" He pushed his finger to my lips.

"No, no talking." He kissed down my neck. "Not in the mood to talk."

"But…"

"Vic, please." He gave me a pleading look and my heart sank. Talking could wait. I knew that he needed something to distract him for a while.

"Alright." I moved so that he was backed into the bed. We toppled over onto it and I began to undo the buttons on his shirt. As more and more of his skin was exposed, I littered each portion with kisses, tossing his shirt to the side. I moved back up towards his face and pecked his lips lightly. He smiled back up at me and moved so that he could roll us over and pin me down. His lips attacked my neck and I could feel his marking my skin.

"Pants… off." He muttered in between the kisses he was leaving on my neck. I obliged and quickly removed them from my body. He rolled his body against mine, creating delicious friction. I stifled the moan that was threatening to escape, the sound coming out a gasp instead. I felt him smirk against my neck and roll again. my breathing quickly became ragged and I was panting, he hadn't even touched me yet.

"Kellin." I whined as he rolled against me. "Stop teasing." He pulled up and smirked down at me. Pecking me lightly, he got up and walked over to his bag, pulling out the bottle of lube that he kept there. He then crawled back onto the bed and wiggled his way in between my legs. I could see the fired up passion that lit up his eyes, causing them to be a darker shade of blue. They were gorgeous.

He moved so that he could kiss the inside of my thigh, trailing his tongue over the sensitive skin. I tossed my head back and gripped the sheets tightly in my hand. I felt his fingers hook into the band of my briefs and he slid them down and off my legs, disgarding them to the floor. I heard the sound of the cap opening and before I could register that thought, he pushed a finger into me, finding my spot immediately.

"Ah! Oh god Kellin." I pushed back against him, trying to force him deeper.

"You like that don't you?" Kellin whispered into my ear. "I'm gonna fuck you so hard tonight, Victor, and you're going to love every second of it." He licked the shell of my ear, and I felt a shiver run down my spine. I went to respond, but he pushed in another finger and whatever I was about to say came out as a moan.

Kellin reached a hand down and pumped my length a few times before removing it. I let out a frustrated noise at the loss and was too preoccupied to realize what was happening. His hand returned, but he was holding something. I looked down just as he slid a black cock ring onto me.

"Kellin… no please, not that." I panted. I was already close to my limit, and the sensations were almost painful.

"Shhh, you'll be fine." He smirked down before kissing my forehead. He slipped his fingers out and lined himself up at my entrance. Without any warning, he pushed fully into me. I let out a scream, arching my back from the bed, tears prickling my eyes. He leaned forward and licked away the ones that had slipped from my eyes before pulling out and thrusting back in.

This was a whole new level for us. Never before had I felt such intense sensations. I was constantly on the brink with no way of coming on my own, Kellin having complete control of the situation. I felt him reach down and grab my hands, pinning them up above my head. He stared directly into my eyes as he pounded against my prostate. Each thrust forced a moan or a gasp from me and it was hard to keep focused on him.

"Vic, you're gripping me so tightly." He purred into my ear. "It's like you're pulling me back, begging me to stay buried deep inside of you." His words only turned me on more. I moaned out his name, wrapped my legs around him, and forced his thrusts to go deeper. I knew that he was getting closer as his thrusts became more out of sync. He moved so that one of his hands was gripping the ring around me and as he came, he pulled it from me. I let out a loud moan, coming immediately. My back arched and all I could see was white.

"Vic…" I slowly opened my eyes. "Vic, are you okay?" I tried to focus on Kellin, who was sitting beside me.

"What… what happened?" I asked as I slowly sat up. I had clothes on and the room was a lot darker than I remember.

"You blacked out." Kellin said guiltily. "Vic, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Hey hey hey. It's okay babe." I pulled him into me. "I loved it so don't worry."

"But…" He trailed off.

"Kellin, look at me." He raised his head and met my eyes. "It's okay. I loved it and I love you so stop worrying." He nodded slowly and moved so that he could lay beside me.

"Vic, I love you so much." He snuggled up beside me, turning off the light.

"I love you too, Kellin. Goodnight." He mumbled a goodnight before we both went silent and drifted off to sleep.


	21. Second Thoughts

We spent the next few days at James' place. I still hadn't told anyone about what he had told me and nobody had asked either. The news was beginning to weigh heavily on my mind though as more time past. To be honest, I wasn't sure exactly what I was supposed to do with the information. There was absolutely nothing that I could do about it, good or bad. It was set in stone and it left a bitter taste in my mouth as it replayed yet again in my mind.

*"Vic, what I'm about to tell you cannot be changed." James began. "I need you to understand that none of this is any fault of yours or any of your friends." I just nodded at his words. "Okay, so Kellin's father and I are leaving all of you roughly half a million in trusts and also this villa-"

"Wait… leaving it to us?" I questioned. "Where are you going?"

"Montoya won't stop until he gets Kellin's dad." James smiled weakly and my eyes widened as the severity of his meaning hit me.

"No James… I mean you can't." I stuttered. "Dan, he… he can help."

"Unless there's a body for proof, he'll never stop." James argued. "And next time he might take Kellin in Eddie's place." I slouched back into my chair, defeated and angry. How could this man do so much for people he barely even knew?

"This isn't fair." I grumbled.

"No, it's not." He agreed. "But neither is a bunch of twenty year old kids risking their lives running from the Cartel."

"Why are you doing this for us?"

"Because I see the way you look at Kellin." He admitted. "Young love is a gift. I'm getting older, my loved ones are gone, and I've lived a good life. It's time for me to let someone else have the chance to live theirs. And when you and Kellin get to be my age, then you will know what I'm talking about."

"James… I…"

"It's alright, Vic. I know." James stood and moved around his desk and knelt in front of me. "Promise me you will take care of Kellin and expect a batch of letters shortly after you return home."

"I promise."*

I sighed and looked out at the beach below. One day we will own this beautiful place, but I'll always be haunted by this memory. I wasn't even sure how to tell Kellin about any of this. We were leaving in a few days, and I know he won't just believe that Montoya just dropped everything. And Liz would probably catch wind of something now that she was back in Mexico with CJ.

"Ugh, why does this have to be so hard?" I groaned.

"Everything okay Vic?" Mike sat down next to me.

"No." I turned to him. "I have no idea what I'm doing Mikey."

"Vic, maybe we should just let life take its course." Mike set his hand on my shoulder. "Stop trying to be the hero for once and try to be happy."

"Mike, how can I be happy knowing that James is going to die for us?"

"It's his choice and there is nothing that we can do to change it." Mike wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "I love you bro, and I'll always be here for you, but you can't always be the hero." He gave me a squeeze and then stood to leave. "Vic, try to be happy, if not for yourself, then for those who love you." With that he took his leave. I spent a long period of time sitting there before deciding to go inside and enjoy the rest of my time here.

We were all packed and ready to go just two days after my talk with Mike. Kellin still hadn't asked me about my talk with James and I was beginning to question if he was going to or not. We got everything packed into our car that Liz had left for us and went to say our goodbyes. We met James at the bottom of the entrance to the villa.

"You guys make sure to travel safely." He said sternly.

"We'll do our best." Kellin smiled back up at him.

"Thanks so much for your hospitality, James." Jesse stepped forward and took his hand in his, shaking it firmly.

"It was the least that I could do." He shrugged. "Take care and good luck with your careers."

"Thanks James." I shook his hand as well and we turned to leave.

"Oh Kellin, before I forget." James pulled an envelope from his pocket. "Don't read this until you get to the plane okay." Kellin nodded, staring at him momentarily. Then, without warning, he wrapped his arms around James in a tight hug.

"Be safe." I heared him whisper.

"I'll try." James hugged him back before letting go.

Once we were all settled in the car, James waved us off. The drive back to the airport was lively and full of conversation. I however, didn't really pay much attention to the others. James had told everyone that he planned on running, but I knew better. They believed he would go after Montoya himself or get arrested. I guess either way, Montoya would get caught for murder. I felt a chill at that thought.

"Everything okay, babe?" Kellin placed a hand on my thigh.

"Hm? Oh, yeah I'm fine." I flashed him a smile.

"You sure?" He prodded. "You seem out of it."

"I'll be okay, Kellin." I leaned over and kissed him gently. "We'll talk about it later okay?"

"Okay." He leaned back and rested his head on my shoulder. This whole thing was becoming more complicated and I just wanted to relax. I guess the last week we have before recording will be my rest. This was going to be an interesting next couple of weeks.

"What about your letter?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know, I haven't opened it yet." Kellin fiddled with the envelope a little.

"Are you going to?"

"I'm not sure." He looked back up at me. "Maybe I should wait until we get home."

"If you want to." I reached over and grabbed his hand in mine. I couldn't wait until we got home.

**A/N: So this is just a filler chapter…yeah**

**Hey guys, so I entered my fic Hold Fast on tallenge. It would be awesome if you guys would go vote for me if you have enjoyed my writing. I would really appreciate it. Love you all! . ?vid=8a060a8e-0da2-4fe4-a40c-cea2879abbb2**


	22. Homesick

The flights back home were pretty uneventful. There was a pretty gloomy atmosphere among the guys, but who could blame us? This entire trip had been stressful and I'm sure I;m not the only one who wanted to be back home. Kellin hadn't opened his letter still. My guess was that he was worried about what was inside. I felt it best to just leave it alone.

By the time we actually reached San Diego, everyone's spirits seemed to lift at the thought of being home. We all went straight back to the house and enpacked. Kellin, after everything was settled, headed into our room. As worry began to creep over me, I followed behind him and shut our door.

"Kellin is everything okay?" I questioned as I joined him at the edge of our bed. He let out a soft sigh and turned to me.

"We should go home." He answered softly.

"But, we are home."

"No, I mean to Colorado."

"Oh," I felt a little dumb for not really picking up on that the first time. "Well we have another week or so before we start recording. We could go for a few days."

"Even though we literally just got home?"

"If you want. I don't care as long as we're together." He leaned over and gave me a tight hug and a quick kiss.

"I want to surprise our parents though."

"That's okay with me." I leaned back and pulled him against me. "But for now, let's have some fun."

The next day, we boarded yet another flight. I had officially gotten over my fear of flying by this point. Mike, Jaime, and Tony had joined us for the trip, wanting to visit their families as well. The rest of the Sirens opted to stay at home. They hadn't been away as long as we had and weren't dying to travel back to Oregon just yet.

When we landed, Kyle was waiting for us at the airport. He had agreed to pick us up in Denver that way we could surprise all of our parents. He also was able to give us an idea of where our parents were and when they would be home. As far as he knew, Jaime and Tony's parents should both be home and Kellin's mom and my parents were over at our house. Kyle dropped off Tony and Jaime first, then drove to my parents house.

"Thanks again Kyle." I said as I climbed out of his jeep.

"No problem. Hit me up so we can hang out, yeah?"

"For sure." Mike and Kellin joined me on the sidewalk and we waved goodbye as Kyle drove away.

"I'll never get use to that." Mike chuckled.

"Right?" Kellin agreed. I shook my head and laughed as we made our way up to the front door. I opened it and we walked inside to be met by three very surprised and confused faces.

"Mijo, don't do that!" My mother exclaimed. "You're going to give me a heart attack."

"Sorry mom." I chuckled as we all walked across the living room. Kellin went straight to his mom and Mike and I went to our parents.

"Well this is surely a surprise." Kellin's mom laughed.

"Yes, boys why didn't you call and tell us you were visiting?" My dad questioned.

"But then it wouldn't have been a surprise." Mike answered playfully.

We spent a few hours just catching up in the living room. We were hesitant to talk about our time in Europe, but we somehow managed to make it through. Kellin even told his mom about James and his dealing with the Cartel. She was shocked that he had been gone for so long and no one had thought to mention it to her. We apologized profusely, but she didn't seem all that mad about it. She was, however, curious about the letter from Eddie.

"Did you bring it with you, sweetie?" She questioned. Kellin simply nodded and pulled the envelope from his back pocket. "You haven't even opened it yet?"

"No, I wanted us to read it together." He looked slightly guilty about it but his mom just nodded in understanding.

"So nothing too dangerous happened in Europe then?" My dad asked finally. Mike, Kellin, and I all exchanged very hesitant looks.

"Um…" I started. "Well…"

"Kellin and I fell off of a bridge. No big deal." Mike spoke quickly.

"What?" My mother gasped.

"Well, actually Kellin did; I jumped." He clarified.

"Oh, because that makes it sound just so much better." Kellin complained sarcastically.

"And why were we not informed of that one?" Kellin's mom demanded.

"There was a lot going on." I managed. "We'll explain everything, just not tonight. We want to have a stress free evening with you guys if you don't mind." They reluctantly dropped the subject, but Kellin, Mike, and I knew that this was definitely not the end of this conversation.

Not long after that, my parents invited over Jaime and Tony's families to have a large family style dinner. It had been a long time since we had had a get together like this one and it was nice to finally not have anything to worry about. At the end of the night, when everything had settled down and people were leaving, Kellin decided that he was going to go back home with his mother for the night. He assured me that he would be fine and that he just wanted to spend some time alone with his mom.

Even if Kellin didn't say anything, I knew that he was going to open the letter tonight. I knew that if there was anything that he needed, he wouldn't hesitate to let me know. I gave me a quick kiss and watched as he and his mother walked the short distance back to their house.

I went back inside and was met by my mother's knowing face. "You both have grown so much this last year."

"Have we?" I reached behind me and scratched the back of my head nervously. She nodded and stepped towards me.

"I'm so glad that nothing happened to you guys." She enveloped me into a warm hug. "But the next time that you have something this important going on, at least let your father and I know. Oh, and keep your brother away from bridges please."

"Yes mom." I whined sarcastically.

"Good boy. Now go and get some sleep." She kissed my cheek and I moved to the stairs. Once to my room, I flopped down onto my bed and kicked off my shoes. I sent Kellin a quick text and the next thing I knew, I was drifting off into a much needed sleep.

**A/N: Alright so here's the next part. I'm so sorry that this took way too long to be updated. My sister's wedding had taken up all of my free time and I had no brain cells left to write with. I love all of you guys for sticking around and leaving me comments filled with love. You guys are so awesome.**


	23. Home

The following morning, I woke up to the smell of breakfast coming into my room. It had been way too long since having my mom's cooking and I was more than ready to indulge myself. I got out of bed, grabbed a shirt and made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen. My mom was standing at the stove, a plate of potatoes and eggs next to her and bacon in the skillet.

"Morning mom." I walked over and kissed her cheek.

"Morning, Victor. Is your brother up yet?"

"I didn't hear noise coming from his room, but I'll go get him."

"Thank you Mijo." I ran back up the stairs and knocked on Mike's room. He made a grumbling noise in response signaling that he was at least alive.

"Food, Mikey." There was a lot of shuffling all of a sudden and then Mike was walking out of the room dressed and ready to take on the day.

After breakfast, Kellin and his mom came to the house. They didn't act any different so I assumed that what was within the letter was not as bad as what we had thought. If anything, I was relieved that things seemed to be okay now that everything was said and done.

It was nice to have a family day. Mom decided that we should go out for lunch and they go do some shopping as a group. It was fun to not have anything to think about aside from the people that were right here with us.

A few days passed and we spent almost the entire time at home doing nothing. There was a day where we went and hung out with Kyle and some friends from high school. The nice thing about coming back here is that they still treated us like regular guys. I almost didn't want to have to return to San Diego, but I loved music way too much to just let it go.

"So what was Europe like?" Kyle questioned as we walked back to our table in the food court.

"It was… interesting to say the least." I answered calmly.

"You don't want to talk about it." It wasn't a question this time. I shrugged indifferently.

"It was an amazing place to visit, just a lot of drama happened." We joined Mike and Kellin at the table.

"I get it." Kyle placed a hand on my shoulder and turned back to his food. "So when are you guys heading back?"

"The day after tomorrow." Mike sounded super disappointed. "No offense Kellin, but I'm really going to miss my mom's cooking."

"None taken." Kellin chuckled. I couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so sincerely. "There's no way I could ever cook like your mom does."

"Well since you guys are going to be here, why not come to this concert tonight?" Kyle suggested. "Some band called Bring Me The Horizon is playing at Ace in Denver."

"Oh I've heard of them." Mike added. "We should go."

"I don't see why not. Plus when was the last time we got to go to a concert that wasn't ours."

"Six months and two weeks ago." Kellin popped off. We all gave him a weird look. "What? It's been a while okay…" We all just laughed and continued the conversation.

We left for Denver after spending a few hours horsing around in the mall. Kyle picked up Tony and Jaime and we made the trip and got to the venue about an hour before doors opened. The best part about seeing a band that hasn't toured in the US a lot, the venue isn't filled to the brim with crazy teenagers yet.

The owner of the venue let us in through the back, understanding our lack of wanting to be followed. He gave us passes to get onto the balcony as long as we promised not to try and buy alcohol, to which we agreed albeit reluctantly. Thankfully, most of the people in the balcony were a little older. A few of them recognized us and came up to chat, but they were pretty chill about it. It was a nice way to pass the time before the band began setting up.

"Evening, mates." The singer greeted in his heavy British accent. "We're Bring Me The Horizon and this song is called Chelsea Smile."

The band's sound was heavier than most of the stuff that I was use to listening to, but I liked their energy. The best part about being up on the balcony was being able to actually enjoy the music without having to fight the crowd. I love being front row and everything, but by the looks of the crowd surfers, I wasn't sad to miss out.

Their set lasted about forty-five minutes and then they packed up and went to their merch table. We decided that, as fellow musicians, we should go and say hello. We waited until the crowd of people died down a little and then headed across the venue. Their singer was the first to greet us.

"Evening, gents." He smiled broadly. "How can I help you?"

"We just wanted to congratulate you guys on a good show. We're musicians as well so we know how hard the journey can be." I held my hand out to him. "I'm Vic, this is Mike, Tony, Jaime, Kellin, and Kyle."

"Yeah, yeah." He chuckled. "You guys are Pierce The Veil, right? And Kellin is from Sleeping With Sirens. I caught your first show in the UK last year."

"Oh, nice." Mike "Our manager wanted to do a test run there, but we're planning a tour soon."

"Well if you guys need any help with venues, let us know." He replied. "Here." He reached behind him and pulled out some shirts and handed them to us.

"Thanks." We replied.

"I'll be sure to repay the favor." I shook his hand again and we said our goodbyes.

Kyle took us home that night, thanking us for tagging along with him, and letting us know that he would take us to the airport if need be. We waved goodbye and then headed into the house. It was just after ten so our parents were sleeping, but Mike, Kellin and I were still pretty hyped up. We opted for some crime TV before bed. Everything was great… until the news came on after.

"In other news, Carlos Montoya was arrested this evening for the murder of James P. Montoya, suspected of being the leader of Mexico's largest drug cartel, shot P while he was on vacation here in the states. Police have been investigating the connection between P and Montoya and have yet to find evidence that they were involved with one another. No news is being disclosed on how they caught the suspect, but I'm sure a lot of people can rest easy knowing that he'll be behind bars. Back to you John."

I glared at the screen, refusing to turn it off. Sure, I was glad that the bastard was behind bars finally, but we were all hoping that James would make it out alive. I guess some hopes and prayers just can't be answered in full.

Mike and Kellin sat beside me equally as angry. Kellin wouldn't admit it, but I could see the tears that were welling in his eyes. No one could blame him. James had sacrificed himself to save Kellin and his mom, but no one had asked him to.

"I'm going for a walk." Kellin stood and left the room.

"Shouldn't you go after him?" Mike nudged my shoulder slightly.

"He needs time to think." I stared at where Kellin had been moments ago. There really was no easy way to talk about this situation. It was even worse that we were leaving the next morning to return to San Diego, so he would have little time to talk with his mom about this. Nothing seemed to be going right these days.

**A/N: Blah... so you know when you write and the rewrite and then rewrite again? Yeah, and I'm still not pleased with it... ugh it'll be better next chapter. Sad to say that this story will be ending shortly. But no need to worry, I have a few story lines that I'm considering. Also, I'll take requests for ideas if you have them.**


	24. Ghosts

Kellin came back after a little while and stayed with me during the night. The following morning, he refused to talk about James and Mike and I respected his wishes. It was all that we could do just to keep everyone preoccupied and distracted. It didn't help that we were leaving the following morning.

Our trip back to San Diego was short and the guys from Sirens were there at the airport to meet us. No one spoke about what we were all thinking about, but Jesse and I met eyes and I knew that he knew.

Once we unpacked all of our stuff, we called Jason to let him know that we would be home if he needed us. We were scheduled to have a few more shows in California before having another tour. I figured that with everything that would be going on, we could keep our minds focused on the positive things about life.

Liz called that night and talked to Kellin for a little while. Apparently she was the sole heir to her fathers companies. She promised that now that he was in jail, she would shut down any shady corporations and turn around her family name. Kellin came back into our room after getting off the phone.

"Babe, you okay?" I questioned as I pulled him into my lap.

"Yeah, I'll be okay." He gave me a weak smile. "For now, we just need to focus on music and things that are positive."

"You guys aren't scheduled to do any shows for a little bit right?"

"Nope. Not until tour." He leaned his head against my shoulder, burying his face in the crook of my neck.

"Okay good." I kissed the side of his head.

It was a few days later when Jason finally dragged us into the venue for sound check. He had pretty much let us do whatever we wanted the last few days and we were a little more than lazy about being there. But, I guess in retrospect, it was a nice break from stress.

"Vic, did you have your strap when we left the house?" Jaime walked over handing me my guitar strap.

"I thought I grabbed it." I took it from him and scratched my head in thought.

"You left it on the couch." Kellin walked over and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"Thank you, love." I gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Of course." He smiled brightly. It was the first genuine smile I had seen in days.

"Are you going to hand out with the guys at the table or here at stage side?"

"I'll be over here." He pointed to stage right. "I want to watch you guys."

"Alright." He moved closer and kissed me lightly.

"You guys are on in five minutes." Jason called from somewhere in the back.

Do you ever feel like you're hallucinating? Like what you're seeing is just a trick that your mind is playing on you just to pull at the strings of your hope. That's exactly how I felt on stage tonight.

I kept having this feeling like I'm being watched. And I know that seems odd since I'm in front of two hundred people, but this was like being stared at. I glanced around the crowd, looking for the culprit. That's when I spotted him.

My fingers froze on my guitar and I saw Tony glance at me. Jaime must have noticed as well because he moved over next to me and asked if everything was okay. I gave a quick nod and picked up where I left off.

Once the song was over, I ran over to the side of stage and leaned over to Kellin. I told him what I thought I saw and pointed towards the back. Kellin's mouth fell open and he grabbed my arm. James looked both of us in the eye, held up a slip of paper, set it on the ledge, and walked out. I told him to wait for me and ran back out on stage.

"Alright guys, I want to thank you all for coming out. We have one more song for you tonight." The crowd yelled and screamed, shouts of "love you" and "PTV" ringing throughout the venue.

We finished out the song, thanked the crowd and left the stage. I grabbed Kellin, yelled for the guys to follow us, and headed towards the back of the venue. We fought through the groups of people, calling for Jesse and the guys to join us, and walked to where we had seen James last. The note was lying on the ledge, folded neatly in half. I picked it up and unfolded it.

"What does it say?" Justin questioned.

"Boys, I have a few things that I would like to discuss with you. I will be leaving this note here tonight and you will receive another in the morning. I'm sorry about the secrecy, but one cannot be too careful if he is supposed to be dead. I look forward to talking with you all. P.S. The concert was amazing. Goodnight." I folded the letter again and looked up to meet the other eight pairs of eyes that were looking at me.

"What do we do?" Jesse asked after a moment.

"We go home and wait for the morning." Mike answered. "There isn't much else we can do tonight."

"Kellin, you okay?" Kellin snapped up at the question, looking to Tony.

"Yeah, just a little confused." He smiled. "Let's go home."

"Alright." I patted his shoulder. "Let's go."


End file.
